- Allahabad High Court ruled hookah service in public places is prohibited under tobacco laws
- Designated smoking areas do not permit serving or preparing hookah to customers
- Court rejected claim that renting ready-to-use hookah avoids providing a service
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that restaurants, cafes and other public places cannot serve hookah to customers even in designated smoking areas, holding that such activity is prohibited under relevant tobacco product and smoking regulations.
A Lucknow bench of justices Shekhar B Saraf and A K Chaudhary dismissed the main petition concerning the operation of hookah bars along with all connected petitions.
The petitioners had sought permission for restaurants holding valid food establishment licences to serve hookah in designated smoking areas and had also sought protection from police interference in their business.
The court held that a designated smoking area is only a limited exception to the prohibition on smoking in public places and does not permit any service to be provided there under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA) and the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008.
It noted that following the 2017 amendment to the rules, the expression any other service was replaced with any service.
This makes it clear that preparing a hookah, filling it with tobacco, placing coal on it, delivering it to a customer or replacing the coal would all amount to providing a service, the court said.
The petitioners had pleaded that if a ready-to-use hookah was handed over to a customer who then operated it himself, the activity should be treated as renting out an apparatus rather than providing a service.
The bench rejected this plea, observing that the element of service is inherent in the preparation and operation of a hookah. The mere fact that the customer himself operates the hookah does not alter the legal character of the activity.
The court also clarified that the Food Safety Department and municipal authorities have no power to issue separate licences for operating hookah bars.
At the same time, police authorities have the power under COTPA to conduct searches, seize articles and take penal action to ensure compliance with the statutory restrictions.
The bench observed that the fundamental right of non-smokers to breathe clean air in public places outweighs the right to carry on a business involving prohibited smoking activities.
It held that operating hookah bars and serving hookah in restaurants amounted to a clear violation of the applicable statutory provisions.
While dismissing all the petitions, the court directed that a copy of its judgement be sent to the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary and director general of police for necessary compliance.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
