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The Supreme Court observed Friday that states should consider indirect liquor sales, either through the online mechanism or home delivery to ensure that social distancing rules are not violated.
The superior court, however, refused to issue any order in this regard.
The observation came from a bank of three judges led by Judge Ashok Bhushan in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a Guruswamy Nataraj who opposed the sale of liquor through the counter.
The Petiton argued that the government cannot meddle in human life by allowing crowds to gather outside of liquor stores.
As the government took the first steps to relax the Covid-19 blockade to revive the economy, hundreds queued up at liquor stores in New Delhi and other cities.
Some stores in parts of Delhi had to be closed due to the large number of people gathered there.
The Delhi government even imposed a 70 percent excise tax on retail liquor purchases to deter large gatherings, but that did not stop people from going out and heading to the liquor stores.
Then he introduced a token system that people can buy online. The measure aims to prevent people from leaving and gathering outside of liquor stores.
The Uttar Pradesh government recently announced a price increase for all categories of liquor, including country liquor, to remove additional revenue of Rs 2.35bn.
A similar statement has also been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi to begin the online sale of liquor to ensure social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The petitioner requested instructions from the Delhi government to develop an appropriate policy to start the online sale of liquor and deliver it to consumers’ homes at a time when all the machinery in the country works tirelessly to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.
After the blockade was extended until May 17, the Ministry of the Interior (MHA) issued new guidelines that allowed the opening of liquor stores.
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