The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday directed the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) and others to file comments on a petition against ban on vape and vaping cafes.
The petitioners, who are dealers engaged in the business of electronic cigarettes, challenged the Sepa action against vape shops. Their counsel submitted that the jurisdiction of Sepa could not extend to prohibiting the use of such products as they were not prohibited from being imported to Pakistan by the federal government.
He submitted that a prohibition, if any, existed was the prohibition of smoking to protect non-smokers health under a 2002 law and even it was not a blanket ban as it sought to regulate smoking. He said Sepa and the health authorities’ letters were without lawful authority as Sepa had no authority to issue directives for banning the use of vape.
The counsel submitted that the impugned letters had deprived the petitioners from their constitutional rights as they were all tax-paying citizens who imported vape and sold it legally to the retailers.
He said that there was no ban on the import of vape devices and e-cigarettes, and vaping was also a healthier and safer substitute to cigarettes as it reduced the overall pollution. The counsel submitted that the government authorities after the impugned letters of Sepa had detained vape shop owners and confiscated their inventory stating that there was ban on vape.
He said that marketing of tobacco-related products and the rules regarding consumption of tobacco vested with the federal legislature and the provincial legislature had no competency to regulate the same.
The SHC was requested to set aside the impugned letters of Sepa and the health department with regard to the ban on use of vape at public places, hotels and cafés. A provincial law officer sought time to call focal persons of the District Central deputy commissioner and Sepa. A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Mohammad Iqbal Kalhoro directed Sepa and others to file comments on the petition on the next date of hearing. The court had on a previous hearing directed Sepa, the health ministry and others to file a report on the manner in which vape was regulated, if at all.