Hookah parlours banned across Maharashtra, ₹1 lakh fine for violations

The Maharashtra government issued a notification on Thursday, introducing a blanket ban on hookah parlours in the state with immediate effect.

The notification was issued by the government after the President assented to the bill passed by state legislature in April this year.

Maharashtra is the second state after Gujarat to impose such a ban, which will come into effect immediately.

The amended Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA), 2003, imposes a fine of ₹1 lakh and imprisonment of up to three years for violations. The amendment has also made the offence non cognisable.

“Since the notification has been issued, the ban comes into effect immediately. It will be the responsibility of the police to ensure the ban is implemented,” said an official from the home department.

The home department had been planning to regulate hookah parlours, but chief minister Devendra Fadnavis insisted on a blanket ban after the fire at Kamala Mills in December 2017, in which 14 people died of suffocation.

According to the report by the probe panel, the fire was caused by an ember from a hookah.

HT had reported on January 11, 2018, that the government planned to ban hookah parlours.

Activists have expressed concerns about how comprehensively the ban will be enforced.

“The regulatory ban has been there on hookah parlours after the Bombay high court order from a few years ago, but they were in operation in connivance with the authorities. Now with the blanket ban, the government should ensure its strict implementation,” said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a cancer surgeon and anti-tobacco crusader.

Authorities have said that the ban was not fully implemented owing to dispute over the interpretation of the court order.

First Published: Oct 06, 2018 00:24 IST