Customs Commissioner sues ITC for damaging his throat.
IT seems Customs Commissioner Deepak Kumar has sued ITC seeking damages worth Rs 1 Crore for allegedly not warning him of the ill-effects of cigarettes, which caused him throat cancer, and eventually took away his speech.
The Customs Commissioner took to smoking when he was only 16. And for a long time, the company never carried any warnings on its packs that would inform him about cancer possibilities.
He is said to have stated:-
+ Had ITC Ltd not sold the cigarette without appropriate warnings, I would not have become addicted to smoking.
+ ITC Ltd sold dangerous and unsafe goods without the appropriate warning. Therefore, my right to health has been violated leading to untold physical and mental agony to me and my family members.
+ Also, the warning about cigarette smoking being injurious to health came to be printed on cigarette packs only in the mid-eighties, but even this warning failed to inform the consumers about specific health hazards, such as it being a major cause of lung and oral cancer, apart from so many other fatal diseases.
+ Hence, the warning is not commensurate with the dangers and risks caused to smokers. In fact, it hides more than it reveals.