HC issues notice to Delhi govt on plea challenging new excise policy

In the petition, the Delhi Liquor Sales Association has sought to quash the new Excise Policy, 2021 and the new terms and conditions sought to be implemented by the Delhi government to grant various licences for wholesale, retail and service of liquor in the national capital.

New Delhi:Hearing a petition challenging the Delhi government's new Excise Policy, the Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government. The bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel issued the notice on the petition filed by Delhi Liquor Sales Association. The association, in its plea, said that there is a lot of contradiction in the Delhi government's new excise policy and it is a clear violation of the Delhi Excise Act and the Indian Constitution.

"The new excise policy is anti-poor and anti-middle-class. The workers and consumers have also not been taken care of in this policy following which many people will become unemployed," the petition claimed. Earlier, the Readymade Plaza had also filed a petition against the new excise policy. In its petition, the Readymade Plaza stated that it has been doing retail business of liquor for the last 15 years.

Read:|New Excise Policy will minimize corruption, provide fair competition: Delhi govt tells HC

Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Readymade Plaza, said that Delhi has been divided into 22 zones under the new Excise Policy and anyone can fill the tender for two zones. "This policy is harmful to those small traders who are doing business in Delhi for the last few years with a license," Rohatgi told the court. He said that the minimum reserve price for obtaining a license for a zone is Rs 200 crore which leaves most of the retail vendors out of the competition.

Read:|Plea in Delhi HC against Delhi govt's new Excise Policy, 2021

Notably, on July 13, a bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi had refused to hear the petition of Ashiana Towers and Promoters Private Limited and ordered to list the petition before the bench of the Chief Justice.

Read:|HC refers plea challenging Delhi’s new Excise Policy to bench already hearing another petition