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Hookah parlour business thriving
Highlights
Hookah Parlour Business Thriving, Police Raiding On Hookah Centres, COTPA. Smoking hookah is considered hospitality in Hyderabad as it’s a legacy of the Nizams. Even though the Nizams are long gone from Hyderabad, their majestic pastime continues to thrive rampantly across the city.
Nexus between owners and police
Smoking hookah is considered hospitality in Hyderabad as it’s a legacy of the Nizams. Even though the Nizams are long gone from Hyderabad, their majestic pastime continues to thrive rampantly across the city.
Recently, the police raided two hookah centres for allegedly serving hookah, laced with narcotics to customers in Chandrayanagutta. Before that, a host of hookah bars were raided in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills for operating without proper police permission. Though the police cracked the whip on hookah parlours, but these raids seems to be just eyewash. In reality, there is a nexus between the hookah bar owners, various government organisations, including the police.
Hookah is covered under the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003. Under Section 6 of the COTPA Act, it provides for protection of children and youth from tobacco use by restricting easy access to them. So ID cards of customers should be checked before allowing them into joints. But in practice, this is hardly adhered to or implemented.
“Most of the hookah centres do no operate as per the COTPA Act. They fail to install CCTV cameras. They operate only with the trade license and other municipal permissions, but not the obligatory police permission as per the provisions of 3(H) of the City Police Act,” said one of the senior police officers.
V Satyanaryana, deputy commissioner of police (west zone) said, “Through mere orders, we cannot curb these centres. All that we can do is to act within the ambit of COTPA Act which stipulates adhering to specific bar timings and prohibiting minor’s access. Any form of tobacco under the age of 18 is illegal.”
Other police officers said that raids hardly act as a deterrent to the owners and customers. “Even if the operators are booked, they would go scot-free with a meagre penalty of Rs 200,” the cops said.
It is observed that punishment is not severe under the COTPA Act. Punitive action is not deterring owners of these centres from permitting minors. Only after booking some minor customers from these bars recently, the cops have begun seizing articles found in the centres.
Sections 21 and 76 of CP Act, invoked in these cases, stipulates imprisonment for a maximum period of three months or the imposition of Rs 200 penalty. Satyanaryana explained that after the articles are seized, they are sent to forensic laboratory to ascertain if traces of narcotics are mixed. If it is traced, then cases would be booked against the owners under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and would be arrested under Section 41 and 102 of CrPC.
In many cases, hookahs are laced with ganja, cocaine and molasses. Since the punishment is not severe, violators are handed imprisonment just for a couple of days.
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