The highest court in the country has scrapped a ban on smoking hookahs in premises that are licenced for the purpose.

BMC had imposed a ban on hookah parlours in the city about three years earlier. The Supreme Court overruled that ban and said that it was illegal. The apex court set aside the judgements passed by three high courts that issued on of sale of tobacco containing products in premises like eating joints.

The Supreme Court said that sale and use of hookahs in hotels, eating joints where smoking is legally cannot be banned legally and if the premises is licenced, hookahs must be allowed. The ruling also cited clauses and the definition, per se, of smoking under the Cigarettes Act.

The Act says that smoking tobacco in any form with the help of a pipe, wrapper, or any other instrumentwhich would include a hookah and the expression, 'no other service shall be allowed', referred to services other than hookahs. The bench of Justice RanjanGogoi and Justice RohintonNariman ruled that hookahs can be permitted in legalised licensed areas.