MUMBAI: Bombay high court held herbal hookah cannot be on the menu in a restaurant operating on an eating house license from the Brihan mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
It cannot be countenanced that grant of a license to conduct an eating house is deemed to include a license to conduct Hookah activities and the civic chief is certainly required to consider issues that could be a nuisance or dangerous said A bench of Justices Girish Kulkarni and R N Laddha on April 24 denying permission to ‘The Orange Mint’ a lounge in Chembur to serve herbal hookah (HH).
The HC held that the Mumbai municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal has appropriately exercised his discretion under the Mumbai Municipality Act, to prevent HH being served at the lounge. The BMC is noted expected to keep a “continuous vigil’’ on hookah activity of the petitioner said the HC adding, “Once it is clear that hookah activities are not part of the Eating House license conditions, such activity cannot be permitted”.
Justice Kulkarni authoring the order, gave an illustration saying, “In a restaurant or eating house, where children, women and elderly visit for refreshments/eating, it cannot be expected that hookah is one of the menus being served and more particularly of the category as offered by the petitioner using flame or burnt charcoal.’’ The HC said, “This would amount to an absolute nuisance’’ at the restaurant and were it to become a reality, “the impact it would create on such customers at the eating house can just be imagined”.
Under Section 394 of the Municipal Corporation Act, restaurants are issued an eating house license to operate. Section 394, said the HC prohibits certain trades, processes and operated without a license and empowers BMC To seize, destroy to prevent danger or nuisance.
But the section cannot be interpreted to mean such license would permit the restaurant to serve ‘herbal hookah’ said the HC whose order was made available on May 1.

“The Municipal Commissioner in granting license is certainly required to apply his mind to such issues which are dangerous to life, health or property of the citizens, as also, on issues which are likely to create a nuisance…’’the HC said.

Entrepreneur, S B Parkhi, the petitioner through her counsel counsel Mayur Khandeparkar submitted that the license issued by the BMC would include serving of ‘herbal’ hookah. The challenge was to April 18, 2023 order assed by the Medical Officer Health, M/West
Ward, directing to stop serving such herbal hookah within seven days, else they
eating house license shall be revoked, without any further notice.
Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) lawyer Kunal Waghmare took the stand that an eating house license would not permit any such hookah activity.
Authoring the order, Justice Kulkarni said the section cannot be interpreted “narrowly”.
“On a holistic reading of Section 394 of the MMC Act, the contention of the petitioner that the eating house license granted to her permits “hookah activities” or conducting any “hookah parlour” under the terms and conditions of the eating home license, is totally untenable,’’ held the HC adding, “ The canvass of Section 394 of the MMC Act, is quite broad to take within its ambit articles, trade, operations, which are dangerous to life, health or which are likely to create nuisance, as quite extensively described in the provision”.
The HC reasoned that the legislatures’ intention can be derived from the clear wordings that include in its ambit any article, trade, process or operation which in the opinion of the civic chief are dangerous to life, health or property or are likely to create nuisance “either from its nature” or by reason “of the manner” in which or the conditions under which the same are or are proposed to be used and carried on.