'Trade not illegal': HC junks Kol hookah bar ban

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday scrapped the Kolkata civic body's ban on hookah bars saying that in the absence of a ban on the legal sale of tobacco, nicotine and herbal products in bars and restaurants, the Kolkata and Bidhannanagar municipal corporations cannot stop the sale of hookah. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha also rul-ed that a separate trade licence for hookah bars was also not legally tenable.

'Trade not illegal': HC junks Kol hookah bar ban
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday scrapped the Kolkata civic body's ban on hookah bars saying that in the absence of a ban on the legal sale of tobacco, nicotine and herbal products in bars and restaurants, the Kolkata and Bidhannanagar municipal corporations cannot stop the sale of hookah. Justice Rajasekhar Mantha also rul-ed that a separate trade licence for hookah bars was also not legally tenable.