The Sampadak Express News Desk
The Madras High Court has sought responses from Tamil Nadu’s Director General of Police/Head of Police Force and the Greater Chennai Commissioner of Police to a public interest litigation alleging that several pubs and cafes in Chennai are illegally offering hookah services. According to The Hindu, the First Division Bench issued notices on the plea and made them returnable by November 19, 2026.
Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan ordered notices to the two senior police officers, the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise, and the individual establishments named in the petition. The case was filed by 27-year-old advocate B. Mughundhan, who claimed to have personally witnessed hookah being served at the identified outlets.
The petitioner alleged that such operations could not persist in central city locations without the complicity of officials. He urged the court to direct police to crack down on pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes that provide hookah services in violation of law.
The plea cited the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2022, asserting it explicitly prohibits serving hookah in bars, pubs, cafes and similar venues, and pointed to Section 21A as prescribing a maximum punishment of three years’ imprisonment for running a hookah bar.
Mughundhan alleged that a significant number of outlets in Chennai were openly flouting the law, including by advertising hookah service on social media; he placed screenshots before the court. He also submitted photographs from his visits to several locations to support his claims.
According to the petition, a coffee shop in a residential area of Alwarpet offers hookah clandestinely in a separate enclosure and uses its CCTV system to conceal equipment when staff spot suspicious persons. A cafe in Teynampet allegedly provides a menu of hookah flavours but removes the card immediately after an order is placed, and employs bouncers to intimidate or remove those perceived as suspicious.
The petition further contended that a cafe on Royapettah High Road in Mylapore presents itself as a vegetarian lounge serving pizza and pasta but, for regular or unsuspecting customers, primarily offers hookah along with aerated drinks and water. Similar methods were alleged at a cafe in Thousand Lights and a rooftop restaurant on Kodambakkam High Road in Nungambakkam.
The court’s notices require replies from the senior police leadership, the Prohibition and Excise department, and the named establishments by November 19, 2026.
