Haryana raids hookah bars

October 27th, 2011 - 7:10 pm ICT by IANS  

Chandigarh, Oct 27 (IANS) Initiating an anti-nicotine drive, the Haryana government has raided 28 hookah bars in seven districts of the state and taken 77 samples this month, an official said here Thursday.

A spokesman of the Haryana Food and Drugs Administration said that in Panchkula district, neighbouring state capital Chandigarh, five hookah bars were raided and seven samples taken.

Seven bars were raided in Gurgaon and Rohtak, five in Panipat, two in Faridabad and one each in Jhajjar and Hisar districts.

He said that none of the manufacturers of the products seized at the bars had a drug manufacturing licence, which is mandatory under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

“Therefore, legal action would be initiated for the violation of section 18(C) of the act, which is punishable with minimum imprisonment of three years with fine,” he said.

The raids were conducted after the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued directions recently on the basis of a petition filed by an NGO Burning Brain Society.

The samples have been sent to the State Drug Laboratory here for testing of contents.

He said these bars charged Rs.150-350 per hour from customers, mostly youngsters.

Related Stories

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Uncategorized |

Subscribe