The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday ruled that restaurants in Uttar Pradesh cannot operate hookah bars, holding that serving hookah violates the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and the applicable smoking regulations.

A division bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary passed the order while hearing petitions filed by several restaurant owners who had challenged police action against their hookah bar operations.

The Court held that operating hookah bars and providing hookah services in restaurants in Uttar Pradesh amounts to a violation of Rule 4(3) of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, as amended in 2017, and is contrary to the provisions and objectives of COTPA.

The Bench also clarified that the food safety authorities and municipal corporations do not have the power to regulate or grant licences for hookah smoking in restaurants or for operating hookah bars.

At the same time, the Court said the police are empowered to search, seize and confiscate material and take penal action against establishments that violate the provisions of COTPA.

The Court further held that hookah cannot be served even in designated smoking areas. It noted that the 2017 amendment to Rule 4(3) imposed an absolute prohibition on providing any service in a designated smoking area, including food, beverages, tobacco products, herbal products and hookah.

The Bench emphasised that the right of a non-smoker to breathe clean air in a public place forms part of the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

It further held that this right cannot be curtailed in favour of the commercial interests of establishments exercising their right to carry on trade or business under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.