Narinder S. Chadha & Ors. v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai & Ors.
The governments in Mumbai, Madras, and Gujarat prohibited the sale and use of hookah at restaurants through the process of issuing licenses. Hookah restaurants challenged court decisions in these regions allowing the government orders to be implemented. In this decision, the court found that the local government orders were beyond the scope of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and Smoke-free Rules. The court ruled that because the law currently allows smoking areas in hotels, restaurants, and airports, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products or other services designed to facilitate smoking in these areas would exceed the scope of the law. The court set aside the judgments in Mumbai, Madras, and Gujarat that had allowed the local government orders prohibiting restaurants from selling or offering hookah products.
Narinder S. Chadha & Ors. v. Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai & Ors., Civil Appeal No. 10836 of 2014, Supreme Court of India (2014)
Tobacco companies or front groups may challenge any legislative or regulatory measure that affects their business interests. Unlike public interest litigation, these cases seek to weaken health measures. These cases frequently involve the industry proceeding against the government. For example, a group of restaurant owners challenging a smoke free law as unconstitutional.
A single or multi-stemmed instrument for vaporizing and smoking flavored tobacco (shisha or sheesha) or other products in which the vapor or smoke is passed through a water basin ‒ often glass-based ‒ before inhalation. Water pipes are known by a variety of names such as hookah, huqqah, nargilah, nargile, arghila, and qalyan.
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"This takes us to the definition of “smoking” contained in Section 3(n) of the Act which has been set out hereinabove. A perusal of this definition shows that it includes smoking of tobacco in any form with the aid of a pipe, wrapper, or any other instrument, which would obviously include a Hookah. That being the case, “smoking” with a Hookah would be permissible under Rule 4(3) and the expression “no other service shall be allowed” obviously refers to services other than the providing of a Hookah. It is, thus, evident that the added words in clause (C) of Condition No.35 are clearly ultra vires the Act and the Rules."
Limitations regarding the use of quotes The quotes provided here reflect statements from a specific decision. Accordingly, the International Legal Consortium (ILC) cannot guarantee that an appellate court has not reversed a lower court decision which may influence the applicability or influence of a given quote. All quotes have been selected based on the subjective evaluations undertaken by the ILC meaning that quotes provided here may not accurately or comprehensively represent a given court’s opinion or conclusion, as such quotes may have originally appeared alongside other negative opinions or accompanying facts. Further, some quotes are derived from unofficial English translations, which may alter their original meaning. We emphasize the need to review the original decision and related decisions before authoritatively relying on quotes. Using quotes provided here should not be construed as legal advice and is not intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter in any jurisdiction. Please see the full limitations at https://www.tobaccocontrollaws.org/about.
The governments in Mumbai, Madras, and Gujarat prohibited the sale and use of hookah at restaurants through the process of issuing licenses. Hookah restaurants challenged court decisions in these regions allowing the government orders to be implemented. In this decision, the court found that the local government orders were beyond the scope of the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) and Smoke-free Rules. The court ruled that because the law currently allows smoking areas in hotels, restaurants, and airports, prohibiting the sale of tobacco products or other services designed to facilitate smoking in these areas would exceed the scope of the law. The court set aside the judgments in Mumbai, Madras, and Gujarat that had allowed the local government orders prohibiting restaurants from selling or offering hookah products.