KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney General’s Chambers has been consistent in its legal opinion since 2022 that the provisions with regard to the ‘generational end game’ or GEG provided in the Control of Smoking Products for Public Health Bill can be challenged in court.
The AGC in a statement today said this was because the provisions contradicted Article 8 of the Federal Constitution.
“…the provision creates unequal legal treatment between a person born before Jan 1, 2007, and a person born on and after Jan 1, 2007,“ according to the statement.
The response from the AGC referred to a media statement issued by former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin which was published by health care portal CodeBlue on Nov 14 and the New Straits Times news portal on Nov 16.
Khairy was reported saying the Attorney-General’s Chambers had approved the tobacco control bill when he brought it to Parliament last year, before a sudden reversal.
He also claimed that the suspension of the Bill commonly referred to as the GEG was due to political pressure rather than legal concerns about its constitutionality. – Bernama
