Bombay High Court Permits Liquor Sale In Mumbai On June 4 After Declaration Of Lok Sabha Election Results

A vacation bench of Justice Nitin Borkar and Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan modified the existing orders of the Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban District Collectors that had declared the entire day as a "dry day."

The Indian Hotel And Restaurant Association (AHAR) filed two petitions challenging the orders issued by the Mumbai city and suburban collectors. The petitioners contended that a ban was imposed on the sale of alcohol for the entirety of June 4, 2024, even though the counting of votes and the declaration of results are expected to be completed by the afternoon.

Advocate Veena Thadani for AHAR argued that the collectors' orders were overly restrictive and led to the thriving of illegal liquor businesses, which capitalize on such bans. Thadani also highlighted that AHAR had approached the collectors to review their decision, but was told that the prohibition was based on a notification from the Election Commission of India (ECI), which dictates that a dry day must be observed 48 hours before voting and on the day of counting.

Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan informed the court that the Mumbai Suburban district collector had already modified the order to limit the ban only until the results were declared, making one of the petitions redundant. However, the Mumbai city collector had not modified the prohibition order.

The court questioned the lack of uniformity and the inconsistency between the two collectors' actions, and emphasized that parity is required for all locations.

Chavan argued that allowing liquor sales based on media reports of election results could create confusion, as liquor sellers might prematurely assume the results were official. However, the court referred to a similar order it had issued on May 3, 2024 regarding Raigad district, where it said that the sale of liquor would be banned on June 4, 2024 till the declaration of election results. The bench found it appropriate to extend the same ruling to Mumbai.