KOLKATA: Some hookah parlours in the city resumed operation from Tuesday itself while others waited for a weekend resumption as they called back their employees, following the Calcutta High Court’s observation on Tuesday scrapping the orders of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) that had imposed a blanket ban on hookah bars in Kolkata and Bidhannagar.
Functionaries of the National Restaurant Association India that had moved Calcutta High Court challenging the validity of the decision said they welcomed the observation but were awaiting a detailed discussion with the lawyers before passing on advisories to their members on when and how they can resume their business.
“Our business had got badly hit because of the ban during the peak festive season. However, we don’t want to cry about old happenings and we welcome the order and are looking forward to fresh business in the upcoming festive weekend,” said Rohit Ojha, a senior member of NRAI’s Kolkata chapter and owner of Scrapyard Café.
Both Kolkata Police and Bidhannagar Police had launched a crackdown on hookah bars and arrested several persons under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act on the charge of running hookah bars illegally.
Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim had in December announced that the licence of all hookah bars in the city would be cancelled and no new licence would be issued to run such a bar.
Soon after, the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation issued prohibitory orders for hookah bars in its area.
Following the decisions of the two civic bodies, Kolkata and Bidhannagar police started conducting raids on hookah bars in their respective areas and arrested several owners and managers.
“We welcome the news. We always followed all regulatory guidelines and are committed towards guest experience and we plan to do the same in future as well,” said Anirudh Poddar, owner of Chai Break.
The court order also came as a relief to Nikhil Pasari who owns a café in Bangur Avenue. “The sales dipped by half after we had to stop serving hookah. I am glad that the court has reversed it,” said Nikhil.
Hookah lovers, too, were happy.
“It was a good way to hang out with friends and family. We had started getting various flavours including strawberry, coffee and vanilla. I had started missing my weekly hookah meetings with my friends,” said Rishabh Agarwal, who works for a share brokerage firm in Dalhousie.
Source: https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMieWh0dHBzOi8vdGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmluZGlhdGltZXMuY29tL2NpdHkva29sa2F0YS9zb21lLWhvb2thaC1iYXJzLXJlb3Blbi1vdGhlcnMtd2FpdC1mb3Itd2Vla2VuZC9hcnRpY2xlc2hvdy85NzI5NTM5NC5jbXPSAXRodHRwczovL20udGltZXNvZmluZGlhLmNvbS9jaXR5L2tvbGthdGEvc29tZS1ob29rYWgtYmFycy1yZW9wZW4tb3RoZXJzLXdhaXQtZm9yLXdlZWtlbmQvYW1wX2FydGljbGVzaG93Lzk3Mjk1Mzk0LmNtcw?oc=5
