Delay in implementation of ban on shisha cafes irks Supreme Court

Author: Syed Sabeeh

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan has summoned the health secretary and commerce secretary over delay in imposition of a ban on shisha cafes and import of shisha ingredients. Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, while expressing displeasure over non-submission of progress report by the government, observed that orders of the top court had not been complied with. This meant unscrupulous elements took advantage, as extortion rates had been increased from Rs 0.1 million to Rs 0.5 million.

When the three-judge bench headed by the chief justice took up the suo moto case against shisha cafes in the country, the law officer representing the federal government appeared before the bench and said compliance had not achieved so far. “It is beyond our understanding what the federation wants? Such is the conduct of the federation that it was allowed a full month to submit a reply, but no reply has been submitted till today,” said the chief justice.

The chief justice further observed that the federation immediately passes the ordinances when it wants to make new laws, adding that even the federation issues different notifications within 24 hours but it adopts a laidback attitude when it came to a matter of public importance.

He said that Shisha Cafes were being run in Boat Basin and Defence Housing Authority (DHA), areas of Karachi. How can the ban be imposed if there is no desire to enforce it by the federation, he demanded. The law officer said that the matter was being considered and the hurdle is financial implications after the imposition of a ban.

Law officer for Baluchistan informed the court that the bill against Shisha had been passed by provincial assembly while the law officer for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that the bill pertaining to the Shisha ban had been passed by provincial cabinet, with the matter sent to the provincial assembly’s secretary. Both officers are directed to appear before the court on the next date of hearing fixed for Tuesday of the coming week. They will discuss why the import of Shisha has not yet been banned.