HC stays Bhopal collector order against hookah lounges

BHOPAL/JABALPUR: A single bench of Madhya Pradesh high court (MPHC), Jabalpur headed by Justice J K Maheshwari on Friday stayed the Bhopal collector blanket ban on the operation and running of ‘hookah bars and restaurants’ was imposed in district Bhopal recently.
The order came on a petition filed by “Hookah Bars, Restaurants and Lounge Association, MP”, which had assailed the order as one without jurisdiction and passed in excess of powers by the Bhopal collector.
The association, which represents more than 100 hookah bar and lounge owners, had moved the high court after the collector through his recent order of November 3, imposed a ban on the grounds minors in young crowd of Bhopal were getting addicted to tobacco and nicotine in hookah lounges.
The association was represented through advocate Siddharth Radhelal Gupta.
After hearing petitioners at length, the HC issued show cause as to why despite judgments such an order had been passed u/s 144 CrPC. The HC has asked state government and district administration to respond in 2 weeks by December 3, 2018.
In Bhopal, there are more than 100 hookah bar restaurants and lounges, which have been under the scanner of the state government since 2014.
Association approached high court in 2014 too
Previously, the association had approached the HC in 2014, when the collector was repeatedly passing orders prohibiting operation of hookah lounges in Bhopal. The HC through its detailed judgment quashed all orders passed by collector Bhopal, holding that u/s 144 CRPC such orders cannot be passed. Thereafter acting on certain complaints, the collector Bhopal again issued similarly-worded order prohibiting running and operation of hookah bars and restaurants, which impelled the association to approach the HC.