In Conversation with Dr Ashok R. Patil, Professor of Law, N.L.S.I.U, Bangalore

Sir, would you please take us down the memory lane and tell us about your journey? You have a graduate degree in forensic science. What prompted you to study law? How and when did you decide to join academia? 

I completed my PUC in Science but so as to grapple in-depth knowledge in the subject I opted B.Sc. with specialization of  Criminology and Forensic Science along with other subjects. I enjoyed a lot by studying the subject specifically ‘Criminology and Forensic Science’ where I developed my interest to study Law and also one of my professors identified my interest and suggested me to join law course and later to complete LL.M. from Karnataka University, Dharwad where I developed my interest in academia and successfully cleared National Eligibility Test (NET) in first attempt Thereafter I began my journey towards my goals to pursue PhD under the guidance ship of Prof.(Dr.) C. Rajashekhar. 

You have had a thriving career in academia; who are the people that have helped you in your journey? Would you please tell us about your mentors and role models? How did they inspire and guide you in your career? 

My father and my PhD. Guide are the mentors and Padma Shree Prof.(Dr.) Madhava Menon, former Director of NLSIU is a role model for me. My guide taught me simplicity, research, motivation and helping nature. Prof. Menon taught me clinical teaching skills, connecting law subjects to society and to solve the existed issues through students and Institution. In this regard, my students have filed PIL and consumer cases and won.  

My clinical research work was recognized at the National level and awarded the prestigious National Award “Legal Education Innovation Award” by the ‘Society of Indian Law Firms’ and ‘Menon Institute of Legal Advocacy and Training’ (MILAT) in the year 2013. This award motivated me always to do innovative things to help society.  

For doing social work as a Faculty Coordinator along with students of Legal Service Clinic of NLSIU got ‘International Mac Jannet Award’ on 02.12.2014 at Cape Town, South Africa. 

What in your opinion is the biggest challenge the legal education industry is grappling with? What opportunities has the pandemic brought for legal education? 

COVID Pandemic brought challenges as well as opportunities to the education industry.  

Challenges: teaching online to all students even though some students are not sufficiently equipped with all the basic facilities. University tried to solve these issues of the students to bring them on track. Teachers and Students have to spend maximum time Infront of computer and all are facing some health issues.  

Opportunities: teachers and students effectively learnt online teaching along with interaction and simulation exercises. They learnt doing online research without physically visiting the library.  

You have a diverse teaching experience and publications in renowned global journals to your credit. What changes do we need to make to match international benchmarks? 

I have visited more than 15 countries and found the importance of publications at the global journals. Publishers of Indian journals should satisfy the yardsticks of international guidelines so that they will come in Scopus, Impact factor, h-index etc. UGC should constitute a committee to look into Indian law journals to bring them to the global level.  

Recently, National Law School of India University, Bengaluru has submitted a report titled, “Tobacco Control Laws in India: Origins and Proposed reforms” to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Would you please share with our readers the genesis of the report? What recommendations or action points does the report propose to the Ministry in the interest of public health? 

Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act 2003 (COTPA) was introduced in 2003 to regulate the availability and advertising of most forms of tobacco products in India, to ban smoking in public places, sale of tobacco products to minors, direct and indirect advertisement in addition to specifying mandatory display of pictorial health warning on tobacco packs. Though the Act is intended as a comprehensive law on tobacco control, it was adopted over 15 years ago and was developed before the coming into force of WHO FCTC. With the passage of time and a greater understanding of the full range of measures necessary to combat the tobacco epidemic, lacunas in the Act have become apparent and proved to be a major challenge in its effective implementation. 

Recommendations 

• Prohibit designated smoking areas by removing the provision that allows for any ‘smoking area or space’. 

• Prohibit all point of sale advertising  

• Prohibit tobacco product displays in stores and kiosks  

• Prohibit all tobacco company sponsorship including corporate social responsibility activities  

• Specify that advertising is banned through new internet-based medium such as social media platforms  

• Increase the age of sale from 18 to 21  

• Prohibit the sale of single sticks, loose tobacco or smaller packs  

• Prohibit the display of emission yield figures  

•  Regulate contents and emissions including a ban on all flavored tobacco 

• Allow for greater regulation of tobacco packaging  

• Increase the penalties for violations  

The aim of these recommendations is to make the Indian legal framework on the regulation of tobacco more robust and more effective in achieving its goals. For proper implementation of the law, it is necessary that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, and other government bodies should take appropriate measures for the same. 

From an international perspective, how far has India been able to keep up with its commitments to the global public health treaty on tobacco control, World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC)? 

The World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) is the first coordinated global effort to reduce tobacco usage, with over 182 members. India is a party to the treaty. 

• Art. 5.3 of the WHO FCTC requires parties to ensure that their public health policies are protected from the interests of the tobacco industry. 

• Art. 8 of the WHO FCTC requires parties to ensure public places are 100% smoke-free. 

• Art. 9 and Art. 10 of the WHO FCTC require parties to control the contents and emissions of tobacco products. Countries such as Canada and Australia show best practices by requiring statements about the harm of emissions to be printed on the side panels of cigarette packages and prohibit display of emission yields. 

• Art. 11 of the WHO FCTC requires proper packaging and labelling of tobacco products to prevent any misleading information. India shows best practices by requiring a health warning on cigarette packets which covers 85% of the front and the back. Australia has gone a step further with plain packaging requirements to ensure that the packet of tobacco products is not attractive. 

• Art. 13 of the WHO FCTC requires parties to ban the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products. India’s tobacco advertising policies are labelled as ‘moderate’, as point of sale advertising and product display are allowed, along with some form of CSR. 

• Art. 16 of the WHO FCTC requires parties to prohibit sale of tobacco products to and by minors. In furtherance of this purpose, countries such as Brazil, Hong Kong, Chile etc. have set a minimum number of 20 sticks for a pack, and countries such as Ecuador and Kenya have set a minimum weight for a pack 

As a signatory to the WHO FCTC, India is obliged to adopt measures for the regulation of tobacco. Currently, COTPA 2003 is the primary tobacco control legislation in India. Accordingly, it is important to conduct an in-depth analysis of the provisions of the COTPA 2003 in order to determine its effectiveness in tobacco regulation in conformity with international best practices, WHO FCTC guidelines and ensure the responsibility of the State i.e. to protect and improve public health guaranteed under the Constitution of India. 

Do the statistics highlight a growing reliance on tobacco consumption in India? Would you please throw some light on the data and share your insights. 

India has the second-largest number of tobacco users (268 million or 28.6% of all adults in India) in the world – of these at least 1.2 million die every year from tobacco-related diseases. 

One million deaths are due to smoking, with over 200,000 due to secondhand smoke exposure, and over 35,000 are due to smokeless tobacco use. Nearly 27% of all cancers in India are due to tobacco usage. The total direct and indirect cost of diseases attributable to tobacco use was a staggering Rupees 182,000 crore which is nearly 1.8% of India’s GDP. 

What are the gaps in the existing law that have been identified through this study? What are the topline recommendations that this report proposes? 

Key findings of the report are: 

• Although smoking in public places was prohibited by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Murli Deora v. Union of India, COTPA 2003 allows for ‘designated smoking areas’ in restaurants and hotels. Accordingly, the allowance for designated smoking areas must be done away with. 

• Point-of-sale advertising continues to be practised in India despite a ban on the advertising of tobacco products. Tobacco products are prominently displayed in stores and kiosks, which entices consumers. Therefore, point-of-sale advertising and display of tobacco products must be prohibited. 

• Tobacco companies are allowed to engage in corporate social responsibility activities and corporate sponsorship of events. This enables them to present themselves as beneficial for society, which is misleading. 

• Advertising of tobacco products on internet-based platforms and social media is very common and must be restricted.  

• Currently, the sale of tobacco products is prohibited to any person below the age of 18 years. The minimum age should be increased to 21 years. 

• Sale of single stick cigarettes and other loose tobacco products is the norm in India. As this increases accessibility and affordability of tobacco products for minors, this must be prohibited. 

• Emission yields which are displayed on cigarette packets often give a misleading impression that the cigarette with low emission is less harmful, which is not shown by any evidence. Therefore, this must be prohibited. 

• Tobacco products also make use of sugar, sweeteners and other ingredients to add colour and flavour to the product. In addition to making tobacco products more appealing, they also reduce the irritating character of tobacco smoke which encourages use by minors. Therefore, this must be restricted. 

• While India does have strict requirements for pictorial warnings on tobacco packages, measures such as plain packaging should be adopted as they have been proven to reduce tobacco consumption. 

• The existing penalties under COTPA 2003 are not sufficient and need to be enhanced. 

Besides your active career in teaching, you are also a member of various national and international bodies. Do you still find time to pursue your hobbies out of your busy schedule?  

To freshen-up and to recharge myself from routine work, I watch comedy movies, TV shows and motivational speeches.  

As a final note would like to share with our students, lawyers and leaders of the future, any golden piece of advice from the treasure trove of your experiences in the industry. 

Think positive – Dream and do hard work to achieve it – Enjoy the work - be patient – don’t change when you achieve it – Learn new things every day until death.