Karnataka High Court Upholds Ban on Hookah and Hookah Bars
Last Updated on April 22, 2024 by News Desk
The Karnataka High Court has dismissed several petitions challenging the ban on hookah and hookah bars in Karnataka. Justice M Nagaprasanna pronounced the verdict, stating that all petitions stand rejected.
The case centered on whether the State had the competence to issue a blanket ban on hookah. Senior Advocate K Suman argued that the State does not have such power, as the Central government legislation, the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distributions) Act, 2003 (COTPA), already holds the field.
However, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty refuted this stance, arguing that the COTPA only deals with cigarettes and not hookah. He argued that the State has the power to impose a ban in the interest of public health, as public health is a subject in Entry 6, List II of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India.
Senior Advocate Kiran Javali argued that the State government’s ban cannot be applied to ban herbal hookahs without tobacco extract.
