Hemant Goswami, an Indian tobacco-control activist and founder of the Burning Brain Society, used public-interest litigation and nearly 300 Right to Information applications to challenge tobacco promotion and weak enforcement. The source reports that he documented tobacco-company donations to political parties, challenged the use of cigarette-brand names in surrogate promotions, and filed complaints over smoking in public places. Bollywood actors Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, and Ajay Devgan were reportedly prosecuted and fined after complaints concerning public smoking. His campaign contributed to Chandigarh’s smoke-free initiative, later documented in the 2011 film *Change Catalyst* and cited by the World Health Organization as a model for smoke-free cities.
Goswami’s longest legal campaign began with Public Interest Writ Petition CWP 14597 of 2007 in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, arguing that nicotine and nicotine-delivery devices should be treated as dangerous substances. In 2012, the court reportedly held that nicotine and its delivery devices were poisons and directed state monitoring; Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh subsequently added nicotine to their poison lists. A government expert committee formed in 2013, including Goswami and WHO officials, recommended a comprehensive prohibition in 2017. India enacted the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act in December 2019, banning their production, import, sale, distribution, storage, and advertising. The account attributes this regulatory outcome to Goswami’s litigation and advocacy, while the supplied source does not provide independent court or government records for each claim.
