Mumbai restaurants move Bombay HC to halt police harassment over herbal hookah service

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A group of 12 Mumbai restaurant owners has approached the Bombay High Court seeking protection from alleged police harassment over the serving of herbal, tobacco-free hookahs, a practice they assert is fully legal under a previous court order. As reported by FPJ, the petitioners claim police have continued to raid and threaten their establishments, disregarding long-standing judicial permission to offer only non-tobacco herbal hookahs.

The petition, argued by advocates Rajendra Rathod and Dhruv Jain, emphasises that the restaurants in question serve exclusively herbal hookahs, in compliance with the High Court’s directive from August 22, 2019, which expressly allowed such products. Despite this, the restaurateurs allege that officials, purportedly on instructions from the state home department, are disrupting their operations under the mistaken belief that all hookah service is prohibited.

According to the plea, restaurant owners have repeatedly informed local police of their adherence to the 2019 order through written communications in April and May this year. Their correspondence pleaded for non-interference in their lawful business activities. Yet, as FPJ highlighted, the petitioners assert that police have continued surprise visits, instructing them to halt herbal hookah services and thereby causing significant financial strain and threatening the livelihoods of many employees.

At the centre of the dispute is a circular issued by the state home department on June 6, 2025, which called for strict action against illegal hookah parlours and warned that any officer turning a blind eye would be held accountable, FPJ reported. The restaurant owners, however, have argued before the court that the circular is being wrongly invoked in their case. They maintain their operations are exempt, since they strictly prohibit tobacco and comply with all relevant provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA).

During the latest court session on August 1, the bench of Justices Shree Chandrashekhar and Manjusha Deshpande granted the government pleader additional time to seek instructions. Importantly, the court also allowed the petitioners to amend their plea with further details and to seek an explicit order prohibiting police from conducting searches or taking punitive steps without adhering to due process under COTPA and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The matter is now scheduled for further hearing on August 6.