Dozens held for smoking sheesha, SC told

Apex court had earlier asked IGP to curb practice

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Police informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the force had nabbed 133 suspects in connection with 32 cases registered over two years under a campaign initiated to curb sheesha smooking in public places.

Assistant Additional Advocate Mudassir Khalid Abbasi submitted an interim report in this regard on the government’s behalf. A three-judge bench of the apex court had asked the IGP on November 5 to curb the prevalence of sheesha smoking in public places like parks, restaurants and hotels. The report states that the home secretary had ordered DCOs to assist police with regard to booking sheesha smokers under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code subsequent to a notification under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. It also reports that 49 suspects were arrested in connection with 19 cases in 2015 and 84 in connection with 13 in 2014. The report also states that the Punjab Prohibition of Sheesha Smoking Bill 2014 is lying pending in the Provincial Assembly.



According to the bill, a draft of which was submitted before the bench, no person individually or collectively shall manufacture, sell, use or import or in any manner engage himself in sheesha smoking. Any offence committed under the Act shall be non-bailable. The bill states that the trend has been gaining currency with each passing day.

Our youth are enjoying and using hard as well as soft drugs in Sheesha cafes. Young women are also not an exception to this.



No planning seems to have been undertaken to curb this menace. The owners of such establishments have been facilitating the practice, the bill states.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2015.