India, Sept. 29 -- The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow Bench on Tuesday held that hookah bars being operated inside restaurants are illegal and cannot be permitted.

Dismissing a batch of writ petitions filed by restaurant and hookah bar owners, the court held that following the 2017 amendment to Rule 4(3) of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, no service whatsoever is permissible inside a designated smoking area (DSA).

The petitioners had argued that they had created separate designated smoking areas in compliance with the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), and that hookah smoking should therefore be allowed.

The court rejected the contention, observing that hookah smoking inherently requires commerc...