Supreme Court in India has issued a notice on a PIL seeking a complete ban on the production of cigarettes and other tobacco products across the country on Thursday.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice RM Lodha said it was for the lawmakers to decide.

The money spent on the treatment of smoking-related ailments comes to Rs. 30,000 crore per annum which flies in the face of revenue earning arguments on not banning the tobacco industry said counsel Aditya Agrawal, appealing for the PIL petitioner filmmaker Sunil Rajpal.

The notice was issued to the central government and all state governments and union territories.