Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Dr Narottam Mishra has said that with the approval of President Droupadi Murmu, a bill related to banning hookah bars will be placed in the upcoming assembly session of the state assembly.
During the discussion with the reporters, Dr Mishra told that the approval in this regard has been received from the President. Orders regarding hookah bars may be issued this week itself. The rest of the process will be completed next month during the five-day monsoon session starting from July 10.
Those running hookah bars used to escape in absence of law
It is likely that restrictive action will be started on hookah bars from July. In fact, the people running hookah bars used to escape from the police action as there was no Act yet.
In the absence of a law, they used to get a stay from the court. In view of this, the Cabinet of Shivraj government had approved this bill in December 2022 itself. It is clear in the bill that if there is a complaint against the hookah bar, the police will be able to arrest without any warrant and take immediate action.
The authority to take action will be with the officer of the rank of sub-inspector or above. There are more than 200 hookah bars in Madhya Pradesh, out of which around 50 are running in Bhopal.
Officers of rank of SI or above can take action
On receiving the complaint, officers of the rank of sub-inspector or above will be able to immediately go to the hookah bar and confiscate the goods. Criminal case will be registered.
The accused can be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year and which may extend to three years.
On the other hand, in relation to another matter, he said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, it has been decided to withdraw the cases under ordinary sections for not following the rules during the Covid-19 lockdown.
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