Gujarat government on Wednesday passed a bill making manufacturing, sales (including online), distribution, import or advertisement of E-cigarettes a cognizable offence with punishment of maximum three years in jail. Tabling the amended Bill in the House, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, Minister of State for Home, said, “After amending the COTPA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act) and prohibiting the ‘hukkah bar’ in the state, we have now amended it with a prohibition on E-Cigarette. This was possible only through sheer political will to follow the stringent prohibition policy of the state.”
The minister said, “More than 30 countries and 12 states of India have banned E-cigarettes, but that was only through passing a resolution for it. Gujarat is the first state to bring in an amendment in the central’s 2003 Act for its implementation.”
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