Carrying liquor from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh? You may be sent to jail
PremiumWhen traffic cops conduct vehicle checks at entry points, they are distributing leaflets on bringing liquor from Delhi to Uttar Pradesh's Noida.
The Noida excise department has started issuing warnings to residents, particularly vehicle owners, about transporting liquor from other states into the district limits, as this is a criminal offence.
"It is to inform the general public that entering Uttar Pradesh with liquor (procured) from other States is a serious infraction," the notice reads in Hindi. “Offending persons will be charged and sentenced under the relevant sections of the Uttar Pradesh Excise Act for this offence."
The notice is issued in the form of leaflets by traffic cops when they conduct vehicle checks at entry points. Carrying more than one sealed bottle of liquor from a neighbouring State is now a non-bailable violation, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of ₹5,000 or 10 times the revenue the State would have lost from the bottle, whichever is larger.
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A person is only allowed to bring one unsealed bottle from another state into UP at a time, according to the applicable excise law.
An official stated on May 28 that a joint squad of Punjab Police and the state Excise Department busted a group that put cheap booze into bottles of pricey and imported scotch brands. According to Joint Excise Commissioner Naresh Dubey, four people have been arrested.
The gang was accused of smuggling cheap whiskey from Chandigarh into Punjab and pouring it in bottles of high-end scotch brands at a Mohali rented apartment. The defendants said that they used to buy empty scotch bottles from several scrap dealers in the Mohali and Ludhiana districts.
United Spirits Ltd, India's largest spirits producer, previously stated that it wanted state governments to allow it to hike product pricing to compensate for rising raw material costs, particularly glass and extra neutral alcohol (ENA).
Because liquor pricing in India is a state affair, and alcohol producers establish rates in collaboration with excise agencies, the makers of Johnnie Walker whisky and Smirnoff vodka have begun negotiations with the states.
