SC rejects plea for counter sale of liquor in Mumbai & Thane

NEW DELHI: “Liquor is not an essential thing,” the Supreme Court said on Thursday while dismissing a special leave petition filed by the Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association (MWMA), which challenged a May 29 Bombay high court order and sought permission to operate normal counter sale of liquor in Mumbai and Thane.
“The high court has already permitted the petitioner to represent the matter to the municipal corporation. We see no reason to entertain this special leave petition,’’ said the SC bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and Justice M R Shah.
Advocate Charanjeet Chanderpal, appearing for the MWMA, said a representation was made to the BMC as directed by the high court but it has not responded as yet. He urged SC to fix a timeframe for the BMC or the municipal commission to decide the representation of the association.
The counsel said online sale of liquor has several problems and chances of sale of spurious liquor are very high while over-the-counter sale of liquor would prevent such products being sold. “Liquor is not an essential thing. We are not inclined to entertain this plea,” the bench said.
On May 29, the high court had refused to quash the BMC's order prohibiting overthe-counter sale of liquor in the city, stating that it was the civic body's policy decision to do so amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
It had refused to quash a notification issued by the civic body on May 22, prohibiting over-the-counter sale of liquor and permitting the use of ecommerce platforms for home delivery of alcohol.
MWMA, in the high court, had sought a direction to the state government to permit the sale of liquor at wine shops in Mumbai, which is a Covid-19 red zone.