NEW DELHI, Nov 2: India’s Supreme Court on Friday directed all states to immediately ban smoking in public places and on public transport.

The ruling will affect hospitals, public offices, schools, court buildings, libraries, auditoriums and trains. Most buses in India are privately run.

The court also ordered that provincial governments submit status reports of action taken against cigarette manufacturers who violate a ban on tobacco advertising ordered earlier this year by the federal cabinet.

The federal guidelines had called for three-year jail terms and fines of 100,000 rupees (2,170 dollars) for violators of the advertising ban.

The measure also outlawed the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 18 and required that all cigarette packets feature health warnings in English and one regional Indian language and specify nicotine and tar content.

India is the world’s third largest producer of tobacco and consumes 430,000 tons of it per year, of which cigarettes account for 19 per cent. —AFP