LHC seeks report on implementation of anti-smoking law

Petitioner submitted that court direct action against use and sale of shisha in cafes and restaurants.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has sought a report from the Punjab home secretary and inspector general police on a writ petition seeking implementation of an anti-smoking law.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial, who was hearing a petition saying that the Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smokers Health Ordinance 2002 was neither effective nor properly implemented, ordered on Thursday that respondents file their replies by March 13.

The court also demanded action against cafes and restaurants that continue to provide shisha in the city and the judge also allowed restaurant and café associations to become a party in the petition.

The petition was filed by the Society of Alternative Media and Research (SAMAR) through its coordinator Khurram Hashmi. The group submitted that they were working on restricting the ever-increasing use of shisha, especially among the youth.

Hashmi added that the use of tobacco and smoking were harmful addictions, which commonly cause a wide variety of diseases, including cancer, and can even result in death.

The petitioner submitted that the vast majority of tobacco users and smokers were hooked when they were children and that shisha, as the latest form of smoking, was gaining popularity among young men and women.

He further said that students under 18 were also fond of shisha. "The owners and managers provide them shisha as well as tobacco," he said.

“Shisha cafes are in abundance in Lahore and are growing day by day which is a clear violation of the ordinance. To save our youth, it is necessary to ban tobacco, including shisha, in Punjab to eliminate this menace."

He prayed that the court direct the responsible officials to strictly enforce compliance of the ordinance as well as immediate crackdown against restaurants and cafes providing shisha.