Bombay High Court bans serving of herbal hookah in restaurants with eating house license

The Bombay High Court recently ruled that restaurants operating on an eating house license from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cannot serve herbal hookah. Justices Girish Kulkarni and R.N. Laddha of the High Court denied permission to a lounge in Chembur called 'The Orange Mint' to serve herbal hookah, stating that it could be a nuisance or dangerous to citizens. The court also said that granting a license to operate an eating house did not automatically include permission to conduct hookah activities.

The High Court held that BMC chief Iqbal Chahal had appropriately exercised his discretion under the Mumbai Municipality Act by preventing the serving of herbal hookah in the lounge. The court also stated that the BMC must keep a continuous vigil on the hookah activity of the petitioner and that such activity cannot be permitted once it is clear that it is not part of the eating house license conditions.

Justice Kulkarni illustrated the ruling by stating that hookah cannot be expected to be served in a restaurant or eating house where children, women, and the elderly visit for refreshments or eating. The court held that such an activity would amount to an absolute nuisance at the restaurant, especially if the hookah is of the category offered by the petitioner using flame or burnt charcoal. 

Restaurants are issued an eating house license under Section 394 of the Act. The High Court said that this section prohibits certain trades, processes, and operations without a license and empowers the BMC to seize and destroy them to prevent such activities.

The petitioner, entrepreneur S.B. Parkhi, argued that the license issued by BMC included serving herbal hookah. However, the BMC lawyer, Kunal Waghmare, argued that an eating house license did not permit any hookah activity. Justice Kulkarni stated that the section could not be interpreted narrowly.