LUCKNOW: The hookah bars, banned by the state government during the Covid pandemic, have got a major reprieve from the Allahabad High Court as it cleared the decks for their reopening by 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, owners of hookah bars, urged the court to allow all of them to recommence their business as the restrictions imposed during the Covid pandemic had largely been relaxed and in other states similar businesses were being allowed to run.