India’s biggest cigarette maker, ITC, shut down manufacturing from 4 May in response to a court ruling on compliance with new rules mandating health warnings on 85 per cent of major packaging surfaces, Reuters said.

This week’s Supreme Court ruling said companies must adhere to the new rules pending resolution of various court challenges to be heard by the Karnataka High Court. ITC and other manufacturers initially ceased production in April, saying they were given insufficient time to comply with the new packaging rules. The new restrictions went into effect on 1 April.