Recently, a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, affirmed the decision of a single bench that ruled hookah bars cannot be closed until the state introduces legislation prohibiting them.

The ruling by Chief Justice Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya came in response to an appeal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) challenging the decision of the single bench.

The court verbally issued the order on Monday, with the written order pending upload on the high court's website as of Monday evening.

Last year, Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of the single bench had ruled that hookah bars could remain operational until the state passed legislation explicitly banning them. This decision came during the hearing of a petition filed by the National Restaurant Association, which contested the actions of the police in Calcutta and Bidhannagar to close down hookah bars.

Following remarks made by Calcutta mayor and state urban development minister Firhad Hakim in December 2022, police took action to shut down hookah bars in response to numerous complaints of drug consumption within these establishments. Mayor Hakim announced the cancellation of all existing licenses for hookah bars in the city and declared a moratorium on issuing new licenses.

Following Mayor Hakim's announcement, police in Calcutta began conducting raids on hookah bars, and similar actions were initiated in Bidhannagar. The order issued on Monday also affirmed the single bench's directive prohibiting police from taking any action against hookah bars.

The National Restaurant Association had argued in court that the police's actions to close hookah parlours were inconsistent with the central law, the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, which does not encompass hookah. Therefore, according to the association, the police lacked authority to shut down hookah bars.

The division bench's ruling also stipulated that if the state intended to close hookah bars, it must first enact legislation expressly banning them.