The Himachal Pradesh High Court has stayed a ban on non-essential eatables in polythene packings till September 3. Hearing a bunch of petitions, a division bench of Justice D.D. Sud and Justice Sanjay Karol passed the order.

Earlier, the state government has issued a notification June 26, banning sale and stocking of 25 food items, including chips and biscuits, which are available in plastic and non-biodegradable packs. The government’s notification came in the wake of the high court order Jan 10 that directed the government to ban the items packed in plastic packaging from April 1. However, later on the request of the state government, the court had extended the time limit to implement the orders by three months.

As per the court’s earlier order, eatables like potato chips, cookies, candy, chewing gum, ice cream, chocolates and noodles would not be sell in state in polythene packs. However, it has exempted essential items like milk and vegetable oils from the ban.

Himachal Pradesh has already banned polythene bags in state.