Need to bring hookah bars within the ambit of law: Rajasthan minister

There is a need to amend the existing norms to bring 'hookah' bars within the ambit of laws similar to those applicable on cigarettes and 'bidi', the Rajasthan government said today.
During the Question Hour in the state Assembly, state Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria said it was a matter of grave concern that younger generation was getting into addiction through Hookah Bars.
"The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 had prohibited smoking at public places. In the Act, provision of smoking zones was made to allow smoking in hotels, restaurants and airports. But these provisions were being misused to operate Hookah Bars," Kataria said.

Independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal and Congress legislator Pradhyumn Singh had raised the issue following which the home minister informed the House that 62 cases in Jaipur and 2 in Jodhpur were registered in 2017 against illegal 'hookah bars'.
Thirty one such cases were registered in Ajmer in 2017, he said. Kataria said some of these cases were registered against illegal Hookah Bars under section 144 of CrPC and section 188 of IPC, but offences under these sections were bailable.
After court rulings, such offences cannot be registered under section 144 of the CrPC, he said.