A group of bar owners and their attorney will argue before a state court that the ban on smoking in bars is in violation of the Indian Constitution’s equal privileges classes.
The reason behind the challenge is that smoking is legal inside off-track betting parlors which received an exemption from the ban. The argument states that the exemption under Article 1 Section 23 of the smoking ban economically hurts the bars represented by Small.
The good news for Small and the band of bars is there is a legal precedent to overturn the law. In 2013, a bar in Evansville, Indiana was able to overturn the city smoking ban where a riverboat casino as granted a similar exemption to that of the off-track betting parlors.
The Indiana Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments from Small and attorneys from the city defending the ban this afternoon.
