Summary:
The President’s assent was received towards end of September and the Maharashtra government issued a notification affecting the ban on Thursday.“Gujarat has already banned hookah parlours, Maharashtra will be the second state in India to do so. Besides use of tobacco, there were complaints of use of drugs in these parlours,” said an official from the home department.Officials said that now with the law being amended, the police will launch a crackdown on hookah parlours. MUMBAI: The bill introduced by the Maharashtra government in April to ban hookah parlours in the state has received the President’s assent, paving the way for an immediate ban.The Maharashtra government has amended the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act (COTPA), 2003, to ban hookah parlours. The ambers flew and fell on curtains which caught fire," said an official. "This was because an investigation into the fire that killed 14 persons showed that the blaze was caused due to ambers of a hookah pot at a restaurant..