Amid reports of hookah bars being run in some eateries and resto-bars, the Tamil Nadu police have warned of stern action against the violators.
Director-General of Police Shankar Jiwal said police commissioners/superintendents of cities/districts had been instructed to enforce the ban on hookah bars. Firm action would be taken against those found to be running such bars. “Besides booking them under the relevant Act, we will write to the local body to seal the premises,” he said.
In June, the Tamil Nadu government amended the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. The amended law defined a hookah bar as an establishment where people gather to smoke tobacco from a communal hookah, or narghile, which is provided individually.
