LUCKNOW: The closed hookah bars, banned by the state government during the pandemic, have got a major reprieve when the Allahabad High Court cleared the decks for their re-opening, permitting the owners to apply to the statutory authority under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, for grant or renewal of a licence to run the facilities.
Disposing of a petition filed in this connection, a division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Printinker Diwaker and Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh, in an order dated February 21, issued directives to the authorities concerned that if applications for the reopening of hookah bars were made by their owners, it may be decided strictly in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of one month from the date of filing of such application.
The counsels appearing for the interveners, who were owners of hookah bars, urged the court for recommencement of their business as the restrictions imposed during the Covid pandemic had largely been relaxed. They have relied on the facts and circumstances that similar businesses were being allowed to run in different states of the country.
On the other hand, Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal, representing the state government, submitted that the interveners had not applied to the statutory authority yet under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. He said that in case they would apply, their request would be considered strictly in accordance with the law as expeditiously as possible.