Plea in Delhi HC against Delhi govt's new Excise Policy, 2021
Jul 14, 2021
New Delhi [India], July 14 : A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court by Delhi Liquor Sales Association against the new Delhi Excise Policy, 2021.
The petition was filed by Delhi Liquor Sales Association through advocates Shailen Bhatia, Arnav Chatterjee and Vibhuti Sharma.
In the petition, the association has sought to quash the new Delhi Excise Policy, 2021 and the new terms and conditions sought to be implemented by the Government of NCT of Delhi with respect to grant of various licences for wholesale, retail and service of liquor in NCT of Delhi.
The association said that the policies while being vague and ambiguous are totally against the interests of the existing and prospective stakeholders, workers who have been working for several years with government and private licensees, the average consumer in Delhi and even the public at large. It further submitted that the impugned policies are tailor-made to appease certain unnamed financially stronger entities and are totally against the poor, middle class and minimum wage earners.
The petitioner submitted that the impugned policies while being totally "self-contradictory and self-destructive" are also ultra vires the Delhi Excise Act, 2009. "The impugned policies are anti-poor, anti lower strata and middle-class members of the public of Delhi and against the interests of stakeholders, workers, consumers and public at large," the petitioner said.
The association added that the impugned policies are ultra vires the Articles of the Constitution, especially Article 14.
The matter was listed before a single bench of Justice Rekha Palli, who on Wednesday sent the petition before the division bench, which is already hearing a similar petition and listed it for hearing on August 9.
Another plea was filed by a group of retail liquor vendors who said they were running retail liquor vends in Delhi for the past 15 years.
