KARACHI: The Sindh High Court was on Monday informed that gutka, mainpuri and other substandard chewable tobacco-based items were being smuggled into the province from Balochistan.

A two-judge division bench was hearing a petition filed by a concerned citizen, Rashid Khan, against the manufacture and sale of hazardous gutka and other items in Karachi.

According to reports filed by police and other respondent authorities, a crackdown on the people involved in the menace has been under way for the past six months and efforts to curb the manufacture and sale of gutka and mainpuri have been geared up.

Expressing dissatisfaction on the official reports, the bench asked why manufacture and sale of the hazardous items had not come to an end if there had been a crackdown on the elements involved in the illegal business.

The bench directed the police and field staff to further gear up their efforts to root out the menace.

While the provincial government’s law officer claimed that the crackdown on the manufacturers and sellers of the substandard chewable tobacco-based items was being carried out across the province by the police, the petitioner once again said that gutka was still being sold openly in the markets.

The petitioner further complained to the judges that no action was taken against the menace and manufacturing units were openly operating in the city under police patronage.

The bench directed the government’s law officer to place the details of cases registered against the people involved in the manufacture and sale of gutka and mainpuri.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2017