New Delhi: In a bid to curtail use of tobacco among children, The Narendra Modi government in its latest draft of Juvenile Justice act has made selling of tobacco products to children punishable up to 7 years and fixed a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
The draft rule has also made it mandatory for all tobacco product packets and liquor bottles to carry gross images or a label above them warning sellers and buyers to stop minors from buying or selling such intoxicants.
If these draft rules are accepted then all shops selling liquor and tobacco products will also have to follow such warnings.
The law rules that selling cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors will land sellers and buyers in a jail for up to seven years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, or both.This increased penalty was specified by The JJ Act, which came in to effect in January 1, 2016
The provisions are part of draft rules under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015,which was cleared by Parliament in December 2015.
The draft rules, released by women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday, also mandate that tobacco products or liquor not be sold within 200 metres of a child care institution or Juvenile Justice Board office.
Several new offences against children have also been included in the Act such as sale and procurement of children for any purpose, corporal punishment in child care institutions, use of children by militant or adult groups, giving children liquor or narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances or tobacco products.
It also prescribes detailed procedures for determination of age. The JJB or the Juvenile Justice Committee will determine the age of the child within 30 days from the date of submission of application.
Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday released a draft which dictates that no tobacco products or liquor should be sold within 200 metres of a child care institution or Juvenile Justice Board office.
The existing Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Product (Prohibition of Advertisement & Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act prohibits the sale of tobacco products to children, especially within a 100-metre radius of any educational institution
Although the penalty for this law, however, is not that strict. Violation of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Product Act will only fine them with a penalty of Rs 200 and/or land them in jail for up to three months.
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