Allowing People To Stay All Night At Pubs Will Hamper Indian Society: Punjab & Haryana High Court On Sale Of Liquor After Midnight

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has questioned Haryana government's excise policy to permit the sale of liquor beyond midnight in Gurugram and Faridabad, observing that policy makers should consider Indian culture and literacy rate to understand repercussion of excessive drinking is "yet a far reaching goal."Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Sanjay Vashisth said, "While the Excise Policy mentions of having noticed social verification and social degeneration at the time of framing the policies, it cannot be remained unnoticed that if the people are allowed to stay all night at bars and pubs, the social strain of Indian society is seriously hampered. Excess drinking and indulging in night life in Indian society is still a social taboo."The Court said it may not be understood to discourage night clubs but the policy makers ought to take into consideration the Indian culture and also consider the that the percentage of literacy and mature understanding is not ideal.It noted further that few of the States have applied absolute prohibition and most of the States have laid down a time schedule for selling of liquor."Once a time schedule is laid down, there should be no provision for granting extension of the said time for the entire night by taking extra money. A balance has to be struck between the amount of revenue being earned vis-à-vis maintaining and nurturing the culture of the State," observed the division bench.The Court said that it is expected that the State shall take into consideration Court's above observations while framing the future excise policy.The Court was hearing a writ petition filed by license holders of Panchkula district challenging a provision of Haryana Excise Policy 2024-25 which prohibits bars and pubs in districts other than Gurugram and Faridabad from operating beyond midnight.It was argued that under the earlier policy, they were also allowed to remain open up to 02.00 AM with a provision to further extend operations up to 08.00 AM on payment of additional amount of Rs. 20 lakh per annum.However, the new policy allows them to remain open only till 12 PM even as the timings of the bar licenses in Faridabad and Gurugram remain unchanged, added the plea.After examining the submissions, the Court found that the excise policy in Haryana deals differently for different licenses for different districts."The license holders...of Faridabad and Gurugram and for that matter other districts including Panchkula cannot be said to be similarly situated nor it can be said that they are a singular class qua excise policy," said the bench.It highlighted that Article 14 of the Constitution formulates class legislation and "reasonable classification" for the purpose of achieving the ends of legislation would not violate Article 14 of the Constitution.In the present case, the Court noted that the petitioners are carrying on business of sale of liquor in their pubs and bars at Panchkula, the persons situated at Gurugram and Faridabad cannot be said to be similarly situated.The Court observed that, "the amount of license fee which they have to pay is different from what is being paid by license holder at Panchkula. While license fee for Panchkula and Faridabad is Rs.12 lacs, the license fees for Gurugram is Rs.15 lacs, while license fee for other remaining districts it is Rs. 5 lacs."Reliance was placed on M/s Darshan Singh & Company, Moga vs State of Punjab and others [2024 NCPHHC 49641], wherein the High Court after referring to Apex Court's decisions, held that the right to trade of liquor is not a fundamental right and it is an exclusive domain of the State to frame its own excise policy and the principles of natural justice do not have any application.While rejecting the plea, the Court said, “Principle of 'take it or leave it' has to be accepted and applied in contractual matters. Where a person wants to do liquor trade, he would have to accept the conditions as framed by the State."It further added that "no one has stopped the petitioners from doing business at Gurugram, if they found it to be more lucrative."Mr. Anand Chhibbar, Senior Advocate assisted by Ms. Shreya B. Sarin, Advocate,Mr. Vaibhav Sahni, Advocate, Mr. Manu Loona, Advocate, for the petitioners.Mr. Sharan Sethi, Additional Advocate General, Haryana. Title: DA Bodega Hospitality and others v. State of Haryana and othersClick here to read/download the order

Allowing People To Stay All Night At Pubs Will Hamper Indian Society: Punjab & Haryana High Court On Sale Of Liquor After Midnight

Aiman J. Chishti

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