The Ehtram-e-Ramazan Ordinance, 1981 (the “Ordinance”) was promulgated to provide for measures to observe the sanctity of the month of Ramadan. The Ordinance prohibits eating and drinking in a public place and provides for punishment in case of contravention.
Prohibition On Eating And Drinking
The Ordinance prohibits eating, drinking, and smoking in public places.
Section 3 of the Ordinance reads:
3(1) No person who, according to the tenets of Islam, is under an obligation to fast shall eat, drink or smoke in a public place during fasting hours in the month of Ramadan.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Therefore, eating, drinking or smoking during fasting hours by a person who, according to the tenets of Islam, is under obligation to fast, is prohibited in a public place, which under section 2 of the Ordinance includes any hotel, restaurant, canteen, house room, tent, enclosures, road, lane, bridge or other place to which the public have access.
The necessary corollary that follows is that a person who, according to the tenets of Islam, is under obligation to fast, eats, drinks or smokes during fasting hours, in his private house without violating the sanctity of Ramadan, is not liable for a penal action.
Likewise, a person who, according to tenets of Islam is not under obligation to fast, eats, drinks or smokes during fasting hours without violating the sanctity of Ramadan at a public place commits no offence.
Prohibition On Provision Of Eatables
A proprietor, manager, servant, or other person in charge of a hotel, restaurant, a canteen or other public place, is prohibited from offering or serving food to any person who is obligated to fast. If he does so, he shall be liable for penal action.
However, the liability of a penalty arises only if the eatables are offered or served knowingly or wilfully during fasting hours to any person who according to tenets of Islam is under obligation to fast.
Section 4 of the Ordinance provides as follows:
- Prohibition of service eatables in certain public places
(1) No proprietor, manager,' servant, or other person in charge of a hotel, restaurant or canteen, or other public place, shall knowingly and wilfully offer or serve or cause to be offered or served any eatables during fasting hours in the month of Ramadan to any person who according to the tenets of Islam, is under an obligation to fast.
(2) Whoever contravenes the provisions of subsection (1) shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to five hundred rupees, or with both.
Exemptions From Section 4 Of The Ordinance
Section 5 of the Ordinance exempts the following canteens, kitchens, and public places from the applicability of Section 4. This means that the prohibition on providing or serving food during fasting hours is not applicable to the following.
5(a) canteen or kitchen maintained in a hospital for serving food to patients;
(b) a restaurant, canteen stall, or wheelbarrow, or the holder of a vending contract, within the premises of a railway station or in a train or a restaurant or canteen within the premises of an airport, seaport or bus-stand or in an aircraft.
(c) a kitchen or dining car of a train; or
(d) a kitchen or canteen meant for children within the premises of a primary school.
Authority To Arrest For Contravention Of The Provisions Of The Ordinance
Section 7 of the Ordinance provides that if any Magistrate, or the Chairman of a District Council or a Municipal Committee or a Town Committee, or the Mayor of a Municipal Corporation, or the Chairman or a member of a District Zakat and Ushr Committee, who has reason to believe that an offence punishable under the law has been carried out, may enter the public place and arrest such person and forward him to the concerned police station.
Therefore, it is clear from the above provision that such authority to arrest for an offence under this Ordinance is not with the police officials. (See, generally, Hassan Mehdi vs. The State, 1993 PCr.LJ 175)
However, the analogous legislation in Punjab specifically provides for this authority to enter public places for the purpose of arrest to the Magistrate and the Assistant Commissioner of the Punjab.
Other Establishments To Remain Closed
Section 6 of the Ordinance provides that all cinema houses, theatres and similar establishments or institutions shall remain closed during the month of Ramadan from sunset to the expiration of three hours thereafter.