PIL in Delhi HC challenging levying of special corona fee by Kejriwal govt
May 08, 2020
New Delhi [India], May 8 : A PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging levying of special Corona fee on liquor by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government of Delhi.
It also seeks setting aside of said notification of May 4 and declare it illegal.
Petitioner Advocate Lalit Valecha through this plea alleged that the 'unprecedented levy of special Corona fee by the Delhi govt resulting in the overall increase in the maximum retail price of liquor by 70 per cent is arbitrary and uncalled for and bad in law. There is no justification or explanation of the sudden levying of the fee. The special Corona fee was not done when liquor vends were allowed to operate initially and the move was taken after there were the reports of huge queues and violation of social distancing norms outside the vends.
The petition, which is most likely to be heard on Monday stated that increasing the maximum retail price by 70 per cent by means of an executive order is illegal."
It has been alleged that a whopping 70 per cent special Corona fee is too much for the common man to bear especially when every person has been financially hit in the prevailing circumstances arising out of COVID-19.
The petition prayed that the impugned notification and order dated May 4, 2020, be quashed/set aside.
The intent behind imposing such a fee is not to curtail the sale of liquor and is for revenue generation as has been repeatedly expressed by the Delhi Government in media briefings, the plea said.
The respondents have no power or authority under any law to amend the Delhi Excise Rules of 2010 in an aforesaid manner and to impose such a special fee without any justification in the prevailing times by misusing the taxing powers of the state as an after-thought, it added.
