Madras HC Orders Closure Of Liquor Shops; Permits Online Sale & Home Delivery [Read Order]

The Madras High Court on Friday ordered the closure of alcohol vending outlets in Tamil Nadu till the lifting of lockdown, taking note of huge crowd situation in outlets selling alcohol bottles in retail.

The order was passed by a division bench comprising Justices Vineet Kothari and Pushpa Satynarayana. The Court noted that the conditions imposed by it for regulating the crowd in TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) shops selling liquor were "blatantly violated".

The Court has however permitted online sale of alcohol and home delivery.

"It is brought to the notice of this Court that about 3850 shops across the State were opened, and there was a record sale of Rs.175 Crores. The above scenario reported after the day one of the reopening of the TASMAC shops only go to show that the State machinery is out of control either in disciplining the crowd or even in the process of sales. It is also reported that the number of police personnel being infected with COVID-19 disease is also on the rise and deploying them for controlling the crowded tipplers before the TASMAC shops would also put their life at risk, besides preventing them from discharging their duties in places, where their services are really required", the HC observed.

The Court further added

"The video clippings and the Newspaper reports clearly go to prove that COVID-19 pandemic preventive norms, like Physical distancing and wearing of masks, etc. were thrown into air making serious concerns about the spread of the virus. There were also further reports about protests held in several places against the reopening of the liquor shops before the lockdown is lifted creating law and order problems. Despite the police personnel having been deployed, the State machinery could not control the crowding tipplers even on day one. The suggestion given by this Court to vend or sale online was also not heeded to".

The bench said that the "mad rush for liquor" was worrying it.

On May 6, the Tamil Nadu Government issued an order permitting the opening of TASMAC shops.

This however led to formation of huge crowds and serpentine queues before the retail outlets, leading to the violation of social distancing norms to be followed to control COVID-19 transmission.

Following that, a batch of petitions were filed in the HC, challenging the Government decision to open the liquor shops.

On May 7, the same bench refused to stay the government order, but imposed several conditions for their functioning.

In a special sitting held on Friday evening, the bench noted that its conditions have been "blatantly violated".

The following were the conditions imposed by the Court :

Purchase Limits

• Bulk sales will not be allowed;
• Not more than two bottles of 750 ML each of liquor (including Beer, Wine, etc.) of any one type will be sold to one customer at a time;
• The same customer cannot make such purchase of liquor more than twice in a week, with a minimum gap of three days.

Digital Payments

• Sale of liquor against cash will be prohibited except where the buyer does not have mobile phone/ digital payment facility;
• Shops not having "Digital payment faculties" may accept payments via E-payment applications like GPay, BHIM, etc. to enable the authorities to keep track of the sales and further to avoid overcharging;
• Those who book liquor online and make digital payments through banking channels will be permitted to buy up to two bottles of one type of liquor in a day;
• Those who do not make online payments/ do not book orders online will be allowed to purchase only one bottle of 750 ml in a day, on the basis of tokens.

Sale Bills

Bill will be issued for each sale made, recording the name, address and Aadhar card number of the person/ buyer concerned (If any sale is found to be made in violation of this direction and such fact is brought to the notice of this Court, that shop in question will be immediately closed and will not be allowed to be reopened).

The Court had also directed the state Government to consider issuance of tokens for purchase of liquor online as issuing the same at the shops itself is likely to cause serious threat to social distancing norms.

On Monday, the same bench had dismissed a PIL seeking absolute ban on manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol in the state of Tamil Nadu. Thereby, the court had held that opening or reopening of the State liquor shops is a "matter of State Policy" and judicial intereference was unwarranted for the same.

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