The court noted that the petitioner had filed the PIL plea without first approaching the authorities concerned.
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The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to treat as representation a petition highlighting the illegal sale of hookahs and its variants, without any health warnings, on e-commerce platforms. The court also asked the Centre to pass appropriate orders on the representation in three months.
The court noted that the petitioner, Jagatmitra Foundation, had filed the public interest litigation (PIL) plea without first approaching the authorities concerned.
“He (petitioner) is highlighting an important point. You (Centre) must decide. He is saying the field is covered by statutory provisions that have not been implemented. You must lay down a standard of procedure,” the court told the Centre’s counsel.
“The writ petition is disposed of with directions to respondents to treat the writ petition as a representation and pass appropriate orders, including taking necessary action in accordance with the law within 12 weeks,” the court said.
The foundation had contended that smoking hookahs in public places is a health hazard and the uncontrolled sale, as well as the promotion of tobacco products online, is being done illegally.
It was argued that “second-hand” smoke also poses a risk to non-smokers, and smoking hookahs aids the spread of communicable diseases. The plea said that the unregulated sale of hookahs online is against the public’s right to health and sought a mechanism to regulate the same.
