Bilaspur: The action of the government regarding banning hookah bars in the state has received a setback from the High Court. The court has stayed this. It has been said that without bringing a law, it cannot be stopped. Raipur’s Rajendra Nagar police station in-charge had issued notice to 6 hookah bar operators regarding the closure of the business. Challenging this notice, the cafe operators have filed a petition.
The matter was heard in the bench of Justice RCS Samant on Wednesday. The petition, filed in the High Court through advocate Ankur Aggarwal, said that the state government has ordered a ban on hookah bars. On this, the hookah bar is being closed by the local administration and the police by pressurizing the bar operators without any law. It has been argued in the petition that by amending the COTPA Act, the state government has asked to ban hookah bars. According to the provision of the constitution, the state government cannot close any business in this way without any law.
As of now, there is no law to stop it. Earlier too, Justice Prashant Mishra and Justice P Sem Koshi had set aside this order in the High Court. Even after this, strict action was being taken by the state government against the hookah bar operators. Advocate Ankur Aggarwal said that it is generally the responsibility of the state government to follow the orders of the High Court. This order of the High Court will be applicable to the petitioner bar operators. But on the basis of this order, other hookah bar operators of the state can also take a stay from the High Court. Even if not taken, the state government should give relief to the hookah bar operators for the time being. He told that a dozen times the operators have petitioned on his behalf.