The Karnataka High Court has dismissed the challenge to the hookah ban in the state

The Karnataka High Court on Monday dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the ban on hookah and hookah bars in Karnataka.R Bharath and ors v State of Karnataka).

Justice M Nagaprasanna pronounced the verdict this afternoon.

“All petitions remain rejected. It (judgment copy) will be uploaded immediately.”

During hearings, the Court had noted that the crux of the case before it concerned whether the state had the authority to issue a blanket ban on hookah.

Senior advocate K Suman, appearing as the petitioner, contended that the state has no such power. Especially since central government legislation has been introduced, namely the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertising and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Manufacture, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (COTPA), already had control of the field.

The COTPA, Suman had argued, allowed smoking in designated areas, where food is not served.

This position was refuted by the state government, represented by Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, who claimed that the COTPA is only about cigarettes and not hookah.

He argued that the State, on the other hand, does have the power to impose a ban in the interest of public health. Public health is a subject in Entry 6, Schedule II (which lists subjects on which states can legislate) of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India, he pointed out.

He added that under Article 47 of the Constitution, the state government is also required to implement measures to promote public health.

Meanwhile, senior lawyer Kiran Javali argued that the state government’s ban cannot be applied to banning herbal hookahs that do not use tobacco extract.

Advocates Jayasimha KS, Mahesh Chowdhary and Mahesh S were also among the counsels who filed submissions for the petitioners challenging the hookah ban.