Petition Challenges Maharashtra’s Hookah Seizure Policy in Bombay High Court

Overview

• The fresh petition, filed Thursday, asks the Bombay High Court to review a state communication that let seized hookah items be moved out of Maharashtra under police escort instead of being destroyed.
• In December 2025 raids in Bhiwandi and Pune, officers seized goods worth about Rs 10 crore and sealed a Pune unit after a government lab reported molasses, sucrose, glycerin, scented supari, and nicotine in samples.
• The FDA under Commissioner Shridhar Dube-Patil pursued action, employees were arrested, lower courts denied relief, and the High Court later refused to quash the case and denied bail based on the lab record.
• During a later review, Secretary Dheeraj Kumar told the court the department had no objection to transporting the seized goods, and the court allowed release for that limited purpose, which the new plea now flags as a precedent risk.
• NCP MLA Hiraman Khoskar has sought an explanation from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and a separate group of gutkha and hookah traders has asked the High Court to permit production for interstate sale by citing the transport order, though experts note that ruling did not grant any right to manufacture.