High Court · 2025

Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI OMAR A.PASHA Counsel for the Respondents: AGP FOR HOME The Court made the following: ORDER !l THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN Writ Petition No.29679 of 2025 This writ petition is filed seeking the following prayer: "...d"eclaring the action of the Respondents herein interfeing with the business of the Petitioner under the na"me and stgle of Mingle Mint Cafe Lounge situated at Sunshine Regalus Building, Panchauati Colony, Manikonda seruing Jlauored Hookah utithout reference to Rule Law or regulations as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to the prouisions of COTP Act, 2023 and in uiolation of Art 14 and 1919 of the Constitution of India and. consequentlg direct the respondents to continue their business of seruing flauored Hookah in petitioner business premises without ang hindrance or restictions..."

2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Assistant Government Pleader for Home appearlng on behalf of respondent Nos.l to 5. With their consent, this writ petition is taken up for disposal-

3. The facts of the case as stated in brief are that petitioner is the Manager/Partner of the Cate in the nalne and styfif Mingle Mint Cafe Longue and. is in the process 2 of serving hookah in the said cafe. The petitioner submits that in the said cafe as per law hookah would be served, but came to know that due to a wrong interpretation by respondent authorities, the term serving hookah is made illeggal. It is submitted that certain restaurants in Hyoerabad had approached the Court and obtained a cot:rlmon order in 2OI7 wherein this Court specifically allo'wed the restaurants to serve hookah by following certain rules and regulations like having CCTV Cameras etc. It is submitted that though following rules, the Police espt:cially the Task Force started going every night to diffe rent restaurants and filing all sorts of false and wrong cas€:s and are trying to shut down hookah sales and usage Thereafter, the owners of certain restaurants approached this Court and obtained orders wherein this Court pernritted to run their restaurants as per rules and regulations and that if Police take any steps, the owners wer€: free to approach the DGP and make complaints regarding illegal behaviour of officers. The petitioner also relie,l on common 'order passed by this Court in Crl.['.No.5619 of 2O2O t 1l J

4. It is submitted that a week ago, the officers of respondent No.S cautioned the petitioner from offering and selling hookah as the same is allegedly banned in Hyderabad. It is further submitted that respondents cannot impose any restrictions beyond those contained in coTP Act. The COTP Act only imposes restrictions such as permissible and non-permissible zones, prohibition of selling to the persons below 18 years of age but does not provide for a blanket prohibition which is being illegally implemented by the respondents. The petitioner further submits that completely banning or stopping the petitioner from serving hookah that too without reference to any rule, regulation or without issuing any notice to the petitioner is illegal and unconstitutional. Questioning the same, the present writ Petition is filed.

5. Learned counsel further submits that petitioner has obtained a certificate of trade license issued by Municipal Administration Department, Manikonda Municipality, Ranga Reddy District dated 08.05.2025 and that he intends to seIl hookah in terms of coTP Act. a 4

6. Heard learned counsel on either side and perused the record

7. Upon perusal of the record, it is observed that the cerLificate of trade license was for the financial year 2025- 26 and valid upto 31.03.2026 and was issued in Trade catr:gory of General Establishment /OfficelShops and the nature of the business for which trade license was issued is referred as "Tea Dust and Coffee". It is further to be not,:d, as per the submissions of the petitioner that he has not started serving hookah in the said cafe and is in the pror)eSS of setting up the same and had approached this Coutrt by way of this writ petition

8. On a perusal of the COTP Act, 20O3, Sub-clauses (b), (k) and (n) of Section 3: Definitions, reads as under: " (b ) cig arette includ.es, - - 0 an!.,1 roll of tobacco wrapped in paper or in an!.1 other substance not containing tobacco, (iil anu rolt of tobacco wrapped in arut substance containine tobacco, which, bu reason of its appearance, the tupe of tobacco used in the filter, or its packaoina and labellinq is likelu to be offered to, or purchased b!1, consumers as ciqarette, but does not include beedi, cheroot and cigar; I .. 1 5 (k) praduction, with ifs grammatical uoriotions q.nd cognate expressions, includes the making of cigarettes, cigars, cLwroots, beedis, cigarette tobacco, pipe tobacco, haokah tobacco, ciewing tobacco, pan mqsala or anA chewing material hauing tobacco as one of its ingredients (bA whateuer nqme called) or snuff and shall include-- (i) packing, labelling or re-labelling, of containers; (ii) re-packing from bulk packages to retail packages; and (iii) ttrc adoption of ang other method to render the tobacco product marketable; (n) smoking, means smoking of tobacco tn any form whether in the form of cigarette, cig.ar, Ueedis or otLrcrwise with the aid of a pipe, wrapper or anA other instruments;" g. Section 4 of the Act stipulates prohibition of smoking in a public place. As per the State Amendment of Gujarat, section 4A has been inserted which is extracted hereunder for reference: (( anything contained in this Act, no person shall, either on his own or on behalf of any other person' open or run anA -bar in any place including the eating hookih house. Explanation.-- The term eating house shall haue tlrc sqme meaning as assigned to it by clause (5A) of section 2 of the Gujarat Police Act, 1951 (Bom. XXil of 1951)." ,"

9.1. Similarly the State of Maharashtra also inserted Section 4A as.was inserted by State of Gujarat' L/ 6 r

10. This Court has taken note of the above amendments carried out by other States in their respective statutes on the subject which may serve as useful guide. 1 1. Section 6 of the Act refers to prohibition on sale of <:igarette or other tobacco products to persons below the age of 18 years and in particular area.

12. Section 7 of the Act stipulates Restrictions on trarle and commerce in, and production, supply and dist.ribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Sub Clauses of Section 7 are as follows: "7 (1).... (2) No person shall carrA on trade or contmerce in. cigarettes or anA other tobacco products urzless euery package of cigarettes or ang other toba.cco products sold, supplied or distibuted by him. bears thereon, or on its label, the specified u,arning. (3) No person shall import cigarettes or antt other tobacco products for distribution or supplg for a ualuable consideration or for sale in India unless euery package of cigarettes or ang other tobacco products so imported bg him bears thereon, or orr fts label, the specified warning. 4.... (5) .l[o person shal| directlg or indirectly, produce, supptg or distribute cigarettes or any other tobacco products unless euery package of cigarettes or anA other toba.cco products l /) 7 produced., supplied or distributed bg him lndicotes thereon, or on its label, the nicotine and. tqr contents on each cigarette or as the case maA be on other tobacci:o products along with the *o*i^u* p ermis sible limits thereof : Prouided that the nicotine and tar contents shall notexceed"themaximumpermissiblequantitl.l thereof as maA be prescribed by rules made under this Act."

13. Section 11 of the Act reads as follows: 77. Testing taboratory for nicotine qnd tar contents For purposes of testing the nicotine and tar continti in cigarettes and anA other tobacco products the Central Gouernment shall by notification in the Official Gazette grant recognition to such testing la'boratory as that Gouernment maY deem necessary'

14. Section 12 of the Act deals with Power of entry and search, which reads as under: "(1) Ang police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector or anA officer of S-tate Food or O*g Ad"miiistration or anA other officer' holding theZquiua.lent rank being not belou th-e rank of Sub-Inspector of Police, authorise side bg *te CentralGouernmentorbyttrcstqteGouernment mqA, if lre has any reason to suspect that any priit"ion of this Act hors been, or is being' ;i:{;i;;to;f ":ll',!#";:;,:1;:,'#,W build.ing, busfness premises or anA other

15. Section 13 of the Act reads as under: "Pou)er to Seize: 1) 1- L- .\ 8 r-' (1) If anA police officer, not below the rank of a sub-inspector or anA officer of State Food or Drug Administration or anA other officer, Lnlding the equiualent rank being not below the rank of Sub-lnspector of Police, authorised by the Central Gouernment or bg the State Gouernment, has ang reason to belieue tha|- (a) in respect of any package of cigarettes or ang other tobacco products, (b) in respect of ang aduerttsement of cigarettes or anA other tobacco products, the prouisions of this Act haue been, or are being, contrauened, he maq seize such package or aduertisement material in the manner prescribed. . (2) No package of cigarettes or any other tobacco products or aduertisement material seized under clause (a) of sub-section (1) shall be retained bg the officer who seiz,ed the package or aduertisement mqterial for a period exceeding ninety dags from the date of the seizure unless the approual of the Distict Judge, within the local limits of whose jurisdiction such seizure was made, hn"s been obtained for such retention."

16. Section 7 of the Act stipulates label on any tobarcco products with specified warning. The petitioner nowhere made submissions to the extent of hookah toba.cco contents that would be served to their customers. The petitioner intends to supply hookah without any brand or lzLbel, which is against the provisions of Section 7 of the Act. That apart, if the petitioner is allohed to mix any product by whichever name it is called generally, referred t ? 9 i' as flavoured hookah, without any approvals and whether the nicotine and other contents are permissible and such flavoured hookah is permitted to serve to their customers, the quality checks goes unchecked' L7. It is pertinent herein to refer the order of this court in w.P.N o.8223 0f 2013 and batch dated 15.1 1 -2023 and the operative portion is extracted herein for reference:

24. In uiew of the aboue discussion, this Court is o/ the opinion that imposing of certain conditions to run the Hookah Centres would meet the ends of justice- i) As Charcoal is being used for seruing hookah in the Hookah Centres, the petitioners shall obtatn licence from the Municipal Corporation qs specified under Section 521(1)(b) of Greater Hgd"erabad Municipal. Corporation Act, 1955. ii) Since the Hyderabad City Police Act' 1348 Fasli confers power ouer the amusement Centres/ restaurqnts which are defined as .pubtii place" under the COTP Act and as per Rule 4 of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Plqces Rules, 2OO8 permission is specifging smoking area. Therefore, to establtsh hookah centres, the petitioners shnll obtain $*a l0 r necessary permission from *e concerned authoity under the prouisions of the Citg Police Act. iii) The Hookah Centres are prohibited from seruing ang tobacco product to the persons belou.t the age of eighteen gears. Hctoial h.ealth- warning labels dt the entrance must be displaged. iu) The respondents-police are at libertg to superuise and inspect the Hookah Centres, for any uiolation of rules and regulations, guidelines or ciranlars issued under the prouisions of the Hyderabad City Police Act, 1348 Fasli. u) If there is ang uiolation of the prouisions of the COTP Act and the Rules made thereunder, tlrc respondents-police are at libertg to take appropriate action as per th.e prouisions of the COTP Act."

18. It is pertinent to note that in terms of the contlitions stipulated in the above order, the petitioner who inte:nded to establish Hookah Centre, should obtain perroission under the provisions of Hyderabad City Police Act, 1348 Fasli. That apart, on a further reading of COTP Act, it can be seen that any person wlro intends to deal with tobacco, has to follow the provisions of the Act. Apart 4 {r- from the trade license, which permits to sell 'Tea Dust and \ \ Coffee', the petitioner has not filed required permissions enabling him to serve hookah in the said Longue and ca{e.

19. tn that view of the matter, this court is of the considered opinion that at this premature stage, no orders can be passed in this writ petition. Further, a writ petition cannot be decided just on the basis of assumptions and presumptions without bringing on record any positive, corroborative evidence related to or in support of his imagination.

20. After arguing the matter at length, learned counsel for the petitioner admits that there is no cause of action in fiting the present writ'petition, at this point of 2l.lnthatviewofthematter,recordingthe submissions made by learned counsel for the petitioner and since there is no cause of action, petition stands dismissed accordinglY. T2 Miscellaneous petitions, pending, if any, shall stand closed. However, there shall be no order as to costs. SD' ,,TRUE COPY// TION OFFICER To,

1. One CC :o SRI OMAR A.PASHA, Advocate [OPUC] 2. Two CC:; to GP FOR HOME, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad [OUT]

3. Two CD tlopies \y BSR BS e HIGH COURT DATED:29108l,2025 ( SHE1 14 e o * 2 C rr8 2026 z * FATC ORDER WP.No.20679 of 2025 DISMISSING THE WRIT PETITION, WITHOUT COSTS l" lM