A Division Bench of the Madras High Court comprising Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice S. Anathi while dealing with the case of Aayya v. Union of India & Ors., has sought clarification from the Government with respect to how the State and Central Governments were regulating the manufacturing activities of sanitary napkins and diapers.
“This is a very important issue and this Court is inclined to entertain the Writ Petition, as to ascertain what are the parameters have been placed and how the State and Central Governments are regulating the manufacturing activities of sanitary napkins and diapers.”
Background of the Case
In this case, the petitioner filed a Public Interest Litigation asking for directions to the Centre as well as the State Government to make the standard test issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards- mandatory for the companies manufacturing sanitary napkins and diapers and also to disclose all the ingredients for producing sanitary napkins in the packaging.
Therefore, this Writ Petition was filed before the Court- praying for issuance of Writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to make the standard test issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards i.e, IS 5405:2019 mandatory for the companies manufacturing sanitary napkins and diapers and further to direct the respondents to make rules regarding the disclosure of the ingredients used in producing sanitary napkins and diapers.
Submission of the Petitioner
The Counsel on the behalf of the Petitioner shifted the attention of the Court to the legislation passed in the State of California, namely, the Menstrual Products Right to Know Act, 2020 and the legislation passed in the State of New York in 2019, namely, the Menstrual Products Right to Know Act, 2019.
The Counsel referred to these legislations because they provided for disclosure of ingredients that were intentionally added. The customers were given the right to have knowledge of the ingredients used in these products. The petitioner submitted his representation to the authorities on 13.03.2021, and he also filed an RTI application, in response to which he got to know that the testing standards of Napkins were determined at the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) and the Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (BPPI).
Reasoning and Decision of the Court
The Court perused all the facts of the PIL and Affidavit filed by the petitioner and accepted the PIL for further proceedings. The Court expounded that,
“the petitioner has flagged a very important issue and this Court is inclined to entertain the Writ Petition, as to ascertain what are the parameters have been placed and how the State and Central Governments are regulating the manufacturing activities of sanitary napkins and diapers.”
The Bench posted the matter on 07.07.2021 and directed the Respondent that the instructions be submitted in the form of countersigned by the appropriate authorities.
Case Details
Case: - WP(MD) No.9162 of 2021
Petitioner: - Aayya
Respondent: - Union of India & Ors.
Counsel for Petitioner: - Mr. DHILIPAN PANDIAN
Counsel for Respondent: - Mrs. L.VICTORIA GOWRI
Judge: Justice T. S. Sivagnanam and Justice S. Anathi
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