This the historic Appellate division order in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.  In 2016, the Full Bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh delivered a landmark ruling on tobacco control. The ruling was given by a bench of five judges, including then Chief Justice S. K. Sinha. The Court directed government agencies to:

1. Phase out tobacco cultivation gradually.
2. Refrain from issuing licenses to any new tobacco companies.

Regrettably, despite the High Court’s directive, permission was later granted for Philip Morris to establish a factory producing nicotine pouches in Bangladesh, which is extremely harmful to public health and the public interest.

The key excerpt of the High Court’s ruling is presented below:

 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BANGLADESH

APPELLATE DIVISION

PRESENT:
Mr. Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
—Chief Justice.
Mr. Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain.
Mr. Justice Hasan Foez Siddique.
Mr. Justice Mirza Hussain Haider.
Mr. Justice Mohammad Bazlur Rahman.

CIVIL APPEAL Nos. 204–205 of 2001.

(From the judgment and order dated 07.02.2000 passed by the High Court Division in Writ Petition Nos. 1825 and 4521 of 1999)

Government of Bangladesh and others.
… Appellants.
(In all the appeals)

—Versus—

Professor Nurul Islam.
… Respondent.
(In C.A. No. 204/01)

Al-haj Nur Mohammad.
… Respondent.
(In C.A. No. 205/01)

For the Appellants

(In all the appeals):
Mr. Ekramul Haque, Deputy Attorney General, instructed by Mrs. Sufia Khatun, Advocate-on-Record.

For the Respondents

(In all the appeals):
Ex-parte.

Date of Hearing:  The 1st March, 2016.
Date of Judgment: The 1st March, 2016.

JUDGMENT

…..…

There is nothing on record to show that the Government has taken any measure to implement directives (a) and (b) of the impugned judgments. Directives (a) and (b) are reproduced again as under:

1. a) “The government shall take steps phase by phase to stop production of tobacco leaves in tobacco growing Districts of Bangladesh, giving subsidy to the farmers, if possible and necessary to produce other agricultural products instead of tobacco and for rehabilitation of the tobacco workers engaged in tobacco production, if possible, with alternative beneficial jobs.”
2. b) “The Government shall restrict issuance of license for setting up tobacco industry or Bidi factory and direct the existing tobacco and Bidi Companies to switch over to some other industry to prevent production of Cigarette, Bidi and other tobacco related products, specifying a reasonable period for the purpose.”

Therefore, the concerned authorities of the Government are directed to start implementing directives (a) and (b) of the judgment of the High Court Division.

Accordingly, both the civil appeals are dismissed with the directives and direction made in the body of the judgment.

Let a copy of the judgment be communicated to the Secretary, Ministry of Education, the Secretary, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Chairman, National Curriculum Textbook Board (NCTB) each for information and necessary action.

[handwritten signatures:]

Sd/- Surendra Kumar Sinha C.J

Sd/- S. M. Hossain, J

Sd/- Hasan Foez Siddique J

Sd/- M. H. Hossain, J

Sd/- Mohammad Bazlur Rahman J

(Additional handwritten signatures, partially illegible)

(Handwritten date) 12–12–16

The 1st March, 2016.

Full court order here;

https://publichealthlaws.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Voyage_of_Discovary_Writ-Petition-৪৫২১-৯৯.pdf