Chennai, Jan 31 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu government will file an appeal against the Madras High Court order quashing the ban on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products, including gutkha, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday.

Talking to media persons, he said that the state government would move an appeal in the Supreme Court against the quashing of the ban after consultations with legal experts.

He also said that the government would move an amendment to the legislation during the assembly session. To a question on the demand of the traders in the state to sell tobacco products in stores, the minister said that traders and their associations must understand the ill-effects of consuming tobacco.

The Madras High Court had quashed the 2018 notification issued by the state government prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and distribution of tobacco products including gutkha.

A division bench of Justices R. Subramanian and Kumaresh Babu ruled that none of the Central or state laws on the sale and consumption of tobacco and food safety provide for any permanent ban on tobacco and tobacco products, and hence, government authorities cannot impose such a ban on the sale of tobacco products indefinitely.