prohibition on 5 no person shall sell, offer for sale, or permit sale of, cigarette or any other tobacco products to any person who is under eighteen years of age sale of cigarette or other tobacco products to a person below the age of eighteen years 6 (7) no person shall, directly or indirectly, produce, supply or distribute cigarettes or any other tobacco products unless every package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products produced, supplied or distributed by him bears thereon, or on its label, the specified warning (2) no person shall carry on trade or commerce in cigarettes or any other tobacco products unless every package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products sold, supplied restrictions on trade and commerce _ in, and production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products or distributed by him bears thereon, or on its label, the specified warning 10 (3) no person shall import cigarettes or any other tobacco products for distribution or supply for a valuable consideration or for sale in india unless every package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products so imported by him bears thereon, or on its label, the specified warning 15 (4) the specified warning shall appear on not less than one of the largest panels of the package in which cigarettes or any other tobacco products have been packed for distribution, sale or supply for a valuable consideration (5) no person shall, directly or indirectly, produce, supply or distribute cigarettes unless every package of cigarettes produced, supplied or distributed by him indicates thereon, or on its label, the nicotine and tar contents per cigarette: 20 provided that the nicotine and tar contents shall not exceed the maximum permissible quantity thereof as may be prescribed by rules made under this act 7 (1) the specified warning on a package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products manner in which specified warning shall be— shall be made (a) legible and prominent; 25 (6) conspicuous as to size and colour; (c) in such style or type of lettering as to be boldly and clearly presented in distinct contrast to any other type, lettering or graphic material used on the package or its label and shall be printed, painted or inscribed on the package in a colour which contrasts conspicuously with the background of the package or its labels 30 (2) the manner in which a specified warning shall be printed, painted or inscribed on a package or tobacco products shall be such as may be specified in the rules made under this act (3) every package containing tobacco products shall be so packed as to ensure that the specified warning appearing thereon, or on its label, is, before the package is opened, 35 visible to the consumer  8 (1) where the language used on a package containing cigarettes and any other tobacco products or on its label is—(a) english, the specified warning shall be expressed in the english language; language in which the specified warning shall be expressed (b) any indian language or languages, the specified warning shall be expressed 40in such indian language or languages; (c) both english and one or more indian languages, the specified warning shall be expressed in the english language as well as in such indian language or languages; (d) partly english and partly any indian language or languages, the specified warning shall be expressed in the english language as well as in such indian language or languages; (e) any foreign language, the specified warning shall be expressed in the english language; (/) partly any foreign language and partly english or any indian language or languages, the specified warning shall be expressed in the english language as well as in such indian language or languages 10 (2) no package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products or its label shall contain any matter or statement which is inconsistent with, or detracts from, the specified warming, size of letters and figures 15 9 no specified warning or indication of nicotine and tar contents in cigarettes shall be deemed to be in accordance with the provisions of this act if the height of each letter or figure, or both used on such warning and indication is less than the height as may be prescribed by rules made under this act |      | testing    | labora-    ||------|------------|------------|| tory | for        | nicotine   || and  | tar        | contents  |10 for purposes of testing the nicotine and tar contents in cigarettes the central government shall by notification in the official gazette grant recognition to such testing laboratory as that government may deem necessary 20 | power    | of      ||----------|---------|| and      | search |11 (1) any police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector or any officer of state food or drug administration or any other officer, hoiding the equivalent rank being not below the rank of sub-inspector of police, authorised by the central government or by the state government may, if he has any reason to suspect that any provision of this act has been, or is being, contravened, enter and search in the manner prescribed, at any reasonable time, any factory, building, business premises or any other place, 25 (a) where any trade or commerce in cigarettes or any other tobacco products is carried on or cigarettes or any other tobacco products are produced, supplied or distributed; or 30 (6) where any advertisement of the cigarettes or any other tobacco products has been or is being made 2 of 1974 (2) the provisions of the code of criminal procedure, 1973, shall apply to every search and seizure made under this act power to seize12 (2) if any police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector or any officer of 35 state food or drug administration or any other officer, holding the equivalent rank being not below the rank of sub-inspector of police, authorised by the central government or by the state government, has any reason to believe that,-— (a) in respect of any package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, or (b) in respect of any advertisement of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, the provisions of this act have been, or are being, contravened, he may seize such package 40 or advertisement material in the manner prescribed (2) no package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products or advertisement material seized under clause (a) of sub-section (7) shall be retained by the officer who seized the package or advertisement material for a period exceeding ninety days from the date of the seizure unless the approval of the district judge, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such seizure was made, has been obtained for such retention 45 confiscation of package 13 any package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products or any advertisement material of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, in respect of which any provision of this act has been or is being contravened, shall be liable to be confiscated: provided that, where it is established to the satisfaction of the court adjudging the confiscation that the person in whose possession, power or contro! any such package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products is found is not responsible for the contravention of the provisions of this act, the court may, instead of making an order for the confiscation of such package, make such other order authorised by this act against the person guilty of the breach of the provisions of this act as it may think fit 14, (1) whenever any confiscation of any package of cigarettes or any other tobacco 10 products is authorised by this act, the court adjudging it may, subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order adjudging the confiscation, give to the owner thereof an | power         | to    | give    ||---------------|-------|---------|| option        | to    | pay     || costs         | in    | lieu    || confiscation |       |         |option to pay, in lieu of confiscation, costs which shall be equal to the value of the goods confiscated 15 (2) on payment of the costs ordered by the court, the seized packages shall be returned to the person from whom they were seized on condition that such person shall, before making any distribution, sale or supply of such packages of - (a) cigarettes, get the specified warning and indication of nicotine and tar contents incorporated on each such package; 20 (6) other tobacco products, get the specified warning, incorporated on each such package 15 any person who carries on any trade or commerce in, or who produces, supplies | liability    ||--------------|| penalty     |or distributes, cigarettes or any other tobacco products, shall— (a) if any package of cigarettes does not contain the specified warning and indication of the nicotine and tar contents; and 25 (b) if any package of any other tobacco products does not contain the specified warning, 30 be liable to pay a penalty not exceeding five times the value of the package of cigarettes or of any other tobacco products or one thousand rupees, whichever is more, whether or not such package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, has been confiscated or is available for confiscation 16 no confiscatiqn made, costs ordered to be paid or penalty imposed under this act shail prevent the infliction of any punishment to which the person affected thereby is liable under the provisions of this act or under any other law confiscation or penalty not to interfere with other = punishments 35 17 any confiscation of cigarettes or any other tobacco products may be adjudged or adjudication costs may be ordered to be paid or penalty be imposed,— (a) without any limit, by the principal civil court of original jurisdiction within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such confiscation has been made, costs have been ordered to be paid, or penalty has been imposed, as the case may be; 40 (b) subject so such limits as may be specified by the central government in this behalf, by such other court, not below a civil court having pecuniary jurisdiction exceeding rupees five thousand, as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, authorise in this behalf giving opportu- 4518 (1) no order adjudging confiscation or directing payment of costs or imposing penalty shall be made unless the owner or person in possession of the package of cigarettes nity to the owner of seized packages or any other tobacco products has been given a notice in writing informing him of the grounds on which it is proposed to confiscate such package, and giving him a reasonable opportunity of making a representation in writing, within such reasonable time as may be specified in the notice, against the confiscation or imposition of penalty mentioned therein, and, if he so desires, of being heard personally or through a representative in the matter : provided that, where no such notice is given within a period of ninety days from the date of the seizure of the package of cigarettes or of any other tobacco products, such package shall be returned, after the expiry of that period, to the owner or the person from whose possession it was seized (2) save as otherwise provided in sub-section (1), the provisions of the code of 5 of 1908 civil procedure, 1908, shall, as far as may be, apply to every proceeding referred to in sub-section (1) 10 appeal 19 (1) any person, aggrieved by any decision of the court adjudging a confiscation, ordering the payment of costs or imposing a penalty, may prefer an appeal to the court to which an appeal lies from the decision of such court (2) the appellate court may, after giving to the appellant an opportunity of being heard, pass such order as it thinks fit confirming, modifying or reversing the decision or order appealed 15 against or may send back the case with such directions as it may think fit for a fresh decision or adjudication, as the case may be, after taking additional evidence, if necessary: 20 provided that an order enhancing any penalty or fine in lieu of confiscation or confiscating of goods of greater value shall not be made under this section unless the appellant has had an opportunity of making a representation and, if he so desires, of being heard in person or through a representative in his defence (3) no further appeal shall lie against the order of the court of appeal 20 (7) any person who,— |           | punishment    | for    ||-----------|---------------|--------|| failure   | to            | give   || specified | warming       |        || and       | nicotine      | and    || tar       | contents     |        |25 (a) sells, or distributes or supplies in the course of any trade or commerce, any package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products, which does not contain, either on the package or on its label, the specified warning and the nicotine and tar contents or, the specified warning, as the case may be; 30 (b) produces, or supplies or distributes in the course of any trade or commerce, any package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products which does not contain, either on the package or on its label, the specified warning and the nicotine and tar contents or, the specified warning, as the case may be, shall in the case of first conviction be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both, and, for the second or subsequent offences, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees, or with both 35 21 (1) whoever contravenes the provisions of section 3 shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees |         | punishment    | for     ||---------|---------------|---------|| smoking | in            | certain || places |               |         |(2) an offence under this section shall be compoundable and shall be tried summarily 2 of 1974 in accordance with the procedure provided for summary trials in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 40 22 whoever contravenes the provision of section 4 shall, on conviction, be punishable— | punishment    | for       ||---------------|-----------|| advertisement | of        || 'tobacco      | products |(a) in the case of first conviction, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees; (b) in the case of second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees, or with 45 both 23 where any person has been convicted under this act for the contravention of the provision of section 4, the advertisement and the advertisement material for tobacco products may be forfeited to the government and such advertisement and advertisement material shall | forfeiture    | of    ||---------------|-------|| advertisement | and   || advertisement |       || material     |       |be disposed of in such manner as may be prescribed by rules made under this act 50 punishment for sale of cigarettes 24 (7) any person who contravenes the provisions of section 5 shall be guilty of an offence under this act and shall be punishable with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or any other tobacco products in certain places (2) all offences under this section shall be compoundable and shall be tried summarily 5 or to persons below the age of eighteen years in accordance with the procedure provided for summary trials in the code of criminal procedure, 1973 2 of 1974, 25 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the central government or the state government may, by notification in the official gazette, authorise one or more persons who shall be competent to act under this act: prevention, detention and place of trial of offences under sections 3 and 5 provided that the person so authorised may, if he has reasonable ground for believing _ 0 that any person has committed an offence under section 3 or section 5, may detain such person unless the accused person furnishes his name and address, and otherwise satisfies the officer detaining him that he will duly answer any summons or other proceedings which may be taken against him, (2) where a police officer or any officer of the state government, not below the rank of sub-inspector of police, as authorised by that government, has reasonable grounds for believing that any person has committed an offence under section 3 or section 5, he may arrest without warrant such person (3) any person detained under sub-section (7) or arrested under sub-section (2) shall forthwith be taken before magistrate to be dealt with according to law 20 (4) any person committing an offence under section 3 or section 5 shall be triable for such offence in any place in which he may be or which the state government may notify in this behalf, as well as in any other place in which he is liable to be tried under any law for the time being in force 25 (5) every notification issued under sub-sections (7) and (4) shall be published in the official gazette, and a copy thereof shall be exhibited for information to the public in some conspicuous place or places as the state government may direct (6) every person authorised under sub-section (7) shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code 45 of 1860 30 offences by companies 26 ({) where an offence under this act has been committed by a company, every person, who, at the time the offence was committed, was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly: 35 provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence (2) notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (7), where any offence under 40 this act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall be proceeded against and punished accordingly explanation—for the purposes of this section,— (a) "company" means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association 45 of individuals; and (b) "director", in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm 2 of 1974offences to be cognizable and 27 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal procedure, 1973, an offence punishable under this act shall be bailable bailable (2) for the avoidance of doubts, it is hereby declared that any offence punishable under this act, other than an offence under section 3 or section 5, shall be cognizable 28 (1) any offence committed under section 3 or section 5 may either before or after | composition    ||----------------|| offences       |the institution of the prosecution be compounded by such officer authorised by central government or state government and for an amount which may not exceed two hundred rupees (2) where an offence has been compounded under sub-section (1), the offender, if in custody, shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against him in respect of such offence |        | protection    | of    ||--------|---------------|-------|| action | taken         | in    || good   | faith         |       |29 no suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie against the central government or any state government or any officer of the central government or any state government for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this act 30 the central government, after giving by notification in the official gazette, not power to add less than three months' notice of its intention so to do, may, by like notification, add any 15 |          | any    | tobacco    ||----------|--------|------------|| products | tn     | the        || schedule |        |            |other tobacco product in respect of which it is of opinion that advertisements are to be prohibited and its production, supply and distribution is required to be regulated under this act, and thereupon the schedule shail in its application to such products be deemed to be amended accordingly 31 (7) the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, make rules power of 20 to carry out the provisions of this act | the        | central    ||------------|------------|| government |            || to         | make       |(2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) specify the form and manner in which warning shall be given in respect of cigarettes under clause (0) of section 2; 25 (6) specify the maximum permissible nicotine and tar contents in cigarettes under the proviso to sub-section (5) of section 6; (c) specify the manner in which the specified warning shall be inscribed on each package of cigarettes or its label under sub-section (2) of section 7; 30 (d) specify the height of the letter or figure or both to be used in specified warning or to indicate the nicotine and tar contents in cigarettes under section 9; (e) provide for the manner in which entry into and search of any premises is to be conducted and the manner in which the seizure of any package of cigarettes shall be made and the manner in which seizure list shall be prepared and delivered to the person from whose custody any package of cigarettes has been seized; 35 (f) provide for any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed (3) every rule made under this act and every notification made under section 30 shall 40 be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive session aforesaid, both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or notification or both houses agree that the rule or notification should not be made, the rule or notification shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or notification 45 power of the state government to make rules32 (7) the state government may, by notification make rules, not being a matter for which the rules are or required to be made by the central government, for carrying out the provisions of this act (2) without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— (a) specify the form and manner in which warning shall be given in respect of any tobacco products other than cigarettes referred to in clause (0) of section 2; (b) specify the period for which the specified warning shall be inscribed on each package of tobacco products or its label under sub-section (2) of section 7; (c) provide for the manner in which entry into and search of any premises is to be conducted and the manner in which the seizure of any other products of tobacco other 10 than cigarettes shall be made and the manner in which seizure list shall be prepared and delivered to the person from whose custody any other product of tobacco other than cigarettes has been seized; (d) provide for any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed (3) every rule made by the state government under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before the state legislature 15 act not to apply 33 nothing contained in this act shal! apply to any cigarette or package of cigarettes which is exported: to cigarettes which are exported 20 provided that ngthing in this section shall be deemed to authorise the export of any package of cigarettes, not containing the specified warning and indication of nicotine and tar contents to any country if the law in force in that country requires that the same or similar warning and nicotine and tar contents shall be specified on each package of cigarettes explanation—for the purpose of this section, any cigarette or package of cigarettes shall be deemed to be exported before the commencement of this act, if the necessary steps for export have already been taken notwithstanding that the actual export has not taken place 49 of 197525 34 (1) the cigarettes (regulation of production, supply and distribution) act, 1975, repeal and savings is hereby repealed (2) notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the provisions 30 of the aforesaid act, shall, in so far as such thing or action is not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the provisions of this act as if the said provisions were in force when such thing was done or such action was taken and shall continue in force accordingly until superseded by anything done or any action taken under this act  the schedule[see section 2(p)] 1 cigarettes 2 cigars 3 cheroots 4, beedis 5 cigarette tobacco, pipe tobacco and hookah tobacco 6 chewing tobacco 7 snuff 8 pan masala or any chewing material having tobacco as one of its ingredients (with whatever name called) 9 gutka 10 tooth powder containing tobacco  statement of objects and reasonstobacco is universally regarded as one of the major public health hazards and is responsible directly or indirectly for an estimated e1ght lakh deaths annually in the country it has also been found that treatment of tobacco related diseases and the loss of productivity caused therein cost the country almost rs 13,500 crores annually, which more than offsets all the benefits accruing in the form of revenue and employment generated by tobacco industry the need for a comprehensive legislation to prohibit advertising and regulation of production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and tobacco products was recommended by the parliamentary committee on subordinate legislation (tenth lok sabha) and a number of points suggested by the committee on subordinate legislation have been incorporated in the bill 2 the proposed bill seeks to put total ban on advertising of cigarettes and other tobacco products and to prohibit sponsorship of sports and cultural events either directly or indirectly as well as sale of tobacco products to minors it also proposes to make rules for the purpose of prescribing the contents of the specified warnings, the languages in which they are to be displayed, as well as displaying the quantities of nicotine and tar contents of these products for the effective implementation of the proposed legislation, provisions have been proposed for compounding minor offences and making punishments for offences by companies more stringent the objective of the proposed enactment is to reduce the exposure of people to tobacco smoke (passive smoking) and to prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors and to protect them from becoming victims of misleading advertisements this will result in a healthier life style and the protection of the right to life enshrined in the constitution the proposed legislation further seeks to implement article 47 of the constitution which, inter alia, requires the state to endeavour to improve public health of the people 3 the bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objects new deut c p thakur the 22nd february, 2001 clause 2—this clause defines various expressions used in the bill most of the definitions of the expressions used in the bill are based on the definitions in the cigarettes (regulation of production, supply and distribution) act, 1975 the scope of some of the definitions has been broadened and some new definitions have been added such as "public place" sub-clause (/) provides definition of the expression "public place" to mean any place to which the public have access, whether as of right or not, and includes auditorium, hospital buildings, health institutions, amusement centres, restaurants, public offices, court buildings, educational institutions, libraries, public conveyances and the like which are visited by public but does not include any open space sub-clause (p) provides definition of the expression "tobacco products" as specified in the schedule attached to the bill clause 3—this clause provides for the prohibition of smoking in public places, clause 4—this clause provides that no person who is engaged in production, supply or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products shall advertise and no person having contro! over a medium shall advertise cigarettes or any other tobacco products through that medium and further, that no person shall take part in any advertisement directly or indirectly suggesting or promoting the use or consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco products  clause 5—this clause provides for prohibition of sale of cigarettes or any other tobacco products to persons below eighteen years of age clause 6—this clause provides that no person shall produce, supply and distribute cigarettes which do not carry the specified warning and that the specified warning should cover not less than one of the largest panels of the cigarettes it also provides that nicotine and tar contents should not exceed the maximum permissible limit as prescribed and that these contents must be displayed on the package clauses 7 to 9—these clauses provide for the manner in which the specified warning shall be made, and the languages in which it should be expressed and also the size of letters and figures clause 10—this clause provides for issuing of notification by the central government regarding testing laboratory for nicotine and tar contents clauses 1] and 12—these clauses provide for the power of entry, search and seizure under the bill clauses 13 and 14,—these clauses provide for provisions relating to confiscation of packages and empowers the court to give option to pay costs in lieu of confiscation a clause 15—this clause provides for liability of a person to pay penalty where specified warning is not contained on package of cigarattes and other tobacco products and contents of nicotine and tar are not indicated on package of cigarattes clause 16—this clause provides that confiscation and penalty would not interfere with any other punishment under this bill or under any other law clauses 17 to 19—these clauses provide for the confiscation of cigarettes or any tobacco products which have been seized as well as the procedure of giving opportunity to the owner of the seized packages and ofallowing him to make a representation as well as the right of appeal available to any person aggrieved by any decision of the court under this bill clauses 20 to 22—these clauses provide for the punishment firstly, for failure to give specified warning and nicotine and tar contents on the packets of cigarettes or other tobacco products, secondly, for smoking at public places and thirdly, for making advertisement of tobacco products clause 23—this clause provides for forfeiture of advertisement and advertisement material related to tobacco products clause 24—this clause provides for punishment for sale of cigarettes or any other tobacco products to persons below eighteen years of age clause 25—this clause provides for the prevention, detention and place of trial of offences under sections 3 and 5 it also empowers the central government and state government, to issue notification to authorise one or more persons who shall be competent under the bill to detain a person who has committed an offence under section 3 or section 5 sub-clause (2) empowers the police officer or any officer of the state government not below the rank of sub-inspector of police as authorised by that government, who has reasonable grounds for believing that any person has committed an offence under section 3 or section 5 he may arrest without warrant such person clause 26—this clause provides for punishment for the offences committed by a company or any person in charge of the conduct of the business of the company clause 27,—this clause provides that the offences committed under this bill shall be bailable it further provides that for the avoidance of doubt every offence punishable under this bill other than an offence under section 3 or section 5 shall be congnizable clause 28—this clause provides that the offence committed under section 3 or section 5 shall be compoundable and the person who committed such offences shall be fined not more than two hundred rupees it also provides that where an offence has been compounded, the offender if in custody, shall be discharged and no further proceedings shall be taken against him in respect of such offence clause 29—-this clause provides for protection of action taken in good faith by any officer of the central government or state government clause 30—this clause provides to empower the central government to add any tobacco products in the schedule appended with this bill clause 31—-this clause empowers the central government to make rules to carry out the provisions of the bill clause 32—this clause empowers the state government to make rules to carry out the provisions of the bill clause 33—this clause provides that the provisions contained in the bill shall not apply to any cigarettes or packet of cigarettes which are exported clause 34—this is a usual clause regarding repeal and savings and repeals the cigarettes (regulation of production, supply and distribution) act, 1975 which is being replaced by this bill memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 31 of the bill seeks to empower the central government to make rules for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of the bill, inter alia, to specify the form and manner in which warning shall be given in respect of cigarettes, to specify the maximum permissible nicotine and tar contents in cigarettes and to provide for the manner in which the powers of entry, search and seizure by an officer not below the rank of sub-inspector of police shall be carried out 2 clause 32 of the bill empowers the state government to make rules to provide for similar matiers in respect of tobacco products other than cigarettes 3 the matters in respect of which rules may be made are matters of procedure or detail the delegation of legislative power is, thus, of a normal character 