The court on Friday allowed Indian Medical Association (Karnataka Branch) to intervene in the petition
Opposing a petition filed by anti-tobacco activist Sumitra Pednekar and doctors from Tata Memorial Hospital, which seeks that directions be issued to public sector insurance companies to divest their shareholdings from companies directly or indirectly engaged in tobacco businesses, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) said, "Investment decisions are a matters of policy and cannot be subjected to judicial review."
The affidavit filed by Vikas Chautrvedi, Assistant Secretary (Investment Operations), states, "LIC is a corporate body and its functions must be on business principles as far as possible. It is required to distribute surplus collected to policy vendors and 95 per cent surplus is distributed to policy vendors."
The affidavit further states, "LIC diversifies its investments to maximise return by balancing risk against performance." Justifying its stance, LIC claimed that it is investing in secondary markets (share markets) of tobacco companies, which is neither prohibited nor banned by any authority. Investment is done within provisions of the LIC Act and other provisions of law, it said. LIC is not cheating policyholders by investing in tobacco companies, it added.
The petition has claimed that these investments are to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore, which is more than even the budgets of some states in India. The said investments are not just contrary to the stated objects of the State but also against the constitutional mandate vested in public sector companies, the petition alleges.
Further, the PIL relies on data of tobacco users, which is estimated to be 27.5 crore, meaning, every third Indian adult consumes tobacco in some form. About 10 lakh Indians die of tobacco-related diseases each year in India, the petition claims. However, government initiatives, including the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP), for reducing tobacco usage and fulfilling its treaty obligations as a signatory of WHO, are falling flat because of the direct investments, the petition claims.
The court on Friday allowed Indian Medical Association (Karnataka Branch) to intervene in the petition. It has limited the organization to assist the court on bad effects of consuming tobacco, and on the treaties which India has signed with other countries to take steps to control the sale of tobacco and products.
ASSISTANCE
- The court on Friday allowed Indian Medical Association (Karnataka Branch) to intervene in the petition.
- It has limited the organisation to assist the court on ill effects of consuming tobacco, and on treaties which India has signed to control the sale of tobacco.
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