Crackdown on sell of hookah in pubs and bars in Gurugram

Each team will be led by assistant excise and taxation officers (AETO) and excise inspectors, according to the officials

Two days after three ahatas (drinking places) were found operating beyond permissible timings and serving hookah, excise officials have formed teams to keep a check on operations at night.

People found operating such places illegally or violating the excise policy will face issues while renewing licenses, said the officials concerned. (Representational Photo)

These teams have started surprise checks and taken action against restaurants, pubs and bars which serve hookah -- as recovered from three ahatas (drinking places) late Friday night, and more than 15 people were present at each place. Each team will be led by assistant excise and taxation officers (AETO) and excise inspectors, according to the department.

VK Beniwal, deputy commissioner of excise and taxation, Gurugram (East), said that most of the complaints come from the Golf Course Extension Road and developing areas. “We have directed the teams to conduct reconnaissance of these areas before searches and surprise checks,” he said.

Beniwal also said that people found operating such places illegally or violating the excise policy will face issues while renewing licenses. “The documents will be sent to Chandigarh, so that the headquarters can take action against the violators directly,” he said.

The chief minister’s flying squad has also been receiving complaints for the past few weeks that some small places are serving liquor and hookah without licences, said police, adding that a few pubs and bars in the city also serve vapes and e-hookahs these days.

“Vapes are being used nowadays. A liquid is heated, which generates an aerosol or vapour inhaled by the consumers,” said Inderjeet Yadav, deputy superintendent of police (crime).

Police said if they find any place serving hookah illegally, they will register a legal case against it under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 120 (conspiracy), and sections 4 and 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, and Section 72C of the Punjab Excise Act.

The district administration had invoked Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 144 on March 2, 2012, to stop the operations of hookah bars. Within a year, the health and police departments closed seven hookah bars across the city after searches. Also, in July 2013, more than 100 students from prominent schools were caught in a bar -- Hookah Baron -- during a search conducted by the excise department.