Cafe Mocha moves high court against BMC circular on tobacco products

Aggrieved by a circular issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) banning the sale of hookah and other tobacco products in restaurants, several hookah parlour owners including the well-known joint Café Mocha have moved the Bombay high court.

"Following the newspaper reports saying that high court has upheld BMC's circular, the police have been harassing us and directing us to close down the cafe even when there is a clear demarcation between eating and smoking areas (at our establishment)," the petition by Berry Hotels, which runs Mocha in south Mumbai, says.

The petition states that civic body has no powers to issue a direction on the basis of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), as it is a central act.

The petitioner's lawyer argued that the law did not prohibit a separate smoking area in the restaurant.

The division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice GS Godbole adjourned hearing to August 4.

On July 13, the bench had upheld the corporation's circular, which was issued after the Court directed the civic body to incorporate the rules under the COTPA.

This direction came on a PIL filed by the NGO `Crusade Against Tobacco', which alleged that hookah parlours were selling tobacco products to minors and violating several other rules.