After Gujarat, blanket ban on hookah parlours in Maharashtra too

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government issued a notification on Thursday, introducing a blanket ban on hookah parlours in the state with immediate effect. 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 Rs 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 CM Devendra Fadnavis insisted on a blanket ban after the fire at Kamala Mills in December 2017, in which 14 people died. According to the report by the probe panel, the fire was caused by an ember from a hookah. Authorities have said that the ban was not fully implemented owing to disputes over the interpretation of the court order. The notification was issued by the government after the President assented to the bill passed by the state legislature in April this year.