PHA-Exchange> Legal Victory in Bangladesh

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Legal Victory in Bangladesh

Tobacco control advocates in Bangladesh recently won a significant
victory against the tobacco industry.  Advocates filed a writ petition
against Imperial Tobacco (Bangladesh) Limited for their advertising
campaign for Thames cigarettes, in which people could fill out a coupon
to join a lottery for a plane ticket to London.  Advertising campaigns
using lotteries are illegal in Bangladesh, as they are considered a form
of gambling.

In response to the writ petition, the High Court Division of the Supreme
Court of Bangladesh issued an order to stay all promotional/advertising
campaign by Imperial Tobacco (Bangladesh) Limited to promote its tobacco
products, namely Thames cigarettes.

The petition was filed by Advocate Sheikh Rafiqul Islam,  Program
Director of Law and Society Trust of Bangladesh (LSTB), and argued by
Ms. Tania Amir, Barrister at Law, also of LSTB.

In addition to the lottery aspect of the campaign, the main thrust of
Barrister Tania’s arguments was that Imperial Tobacco (BD) Ltd. has been
conducting promotional activities of its product in violation of
fundamental rights, e.g. the right to life, and that no action may be
taken detrimental to life. The right to life is protected by the
constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

The Court called upon the respondents, which included the Government of
Bangladesh, Imperial Tobacco, and the publisher of advertisements, to
show cause as to why the promotional advertisement activities of
Imperial Tobacco (BD) Ltd. should not be declared to be illegal, and why
exemplary damages shall not be awarded which shall be used for counter
advertisement and awareness programs against the use of tobacco.  The
judges also stayed all promotional advertisement activities of Imperial
Tobacco (BD) Ltd. for a period of two months.

The advertising campaign was first noted by Rafiqul Islam Milon of
Manobik, an anti-drug organization heavily involved in tobacco control
and one of the leading organizations of the Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco
Alliance.  Mr. Milon carefully documented the campaign, providing the
evidence for the case.

The victory was reminiscent of the writ petition filed against British
American Tobacco Bangladesh against the Voyage of Discovery campaign,
which stopped promotional events surrounding the arrival of the yacht in
Bangladesh, and provided impetus towards the government’s drafting of a
comprehensive tobacco control law, currently awaiting vetting in
Parliament.


     -Syed Mahbubul Alam Tahin

.............
Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB)
House-49 Road-4/A
Dhanmondi, Dhaka-1209, Bangladesh
Ph- 880-2-9669781 Fax-880-2-8629271
E-mail-wbb at pradeshta.net
website: http://wbb.globalink.org

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