Chennai: Madras High Court has directed the
Centre to prominently display at airports and seaports around
the country that items like poppy seeds, betel leaves and
their derivatives are banned in Middle East countries.
Passing the order on a PIL filed by advocate V
Nandakumar, a division bench comprising Justices Prabha
Sridevan and M Satyanarayanan told the Central Board of Excise
and Customs (CBEC) to also use local languages of respective
states in the displays.
The board informed the court that it had directed its
field staff at airports and seaports to put up displays
indicating that items like poppy seeds and betel leaves and
their derivatives are banned in Middle East.
The petitioner had pointed out that when he had visited
Abu Dhabi in August 2004, he saw a report in newspapers that a
graphic designer from Bangalore was sentenced to eight-year
imprisonment for possessing `khas khas` (poppy seeds).
He also said a couple from Gujarat on Haj was arrested on
December 31, 2005 at Jeddha International Airport in Saudi
Arabia for carrying 250 gm poppy seeds. They were later
released on the intervention of the Indian High Commission at
Jeddha after serving 56 days in jail.
The High Court had suo motu impleaded the Union Finance
Ministry, Shipping Ministry and the CBEC in the petition.
Fearing that more people could be arrested for carrying
items like `khas khas`, which is used as an ingredient in
cooking certain dishes, the advocate had moved the High Court.
-PTI
