The Association of Hotel, Restaurant, Permit Room, and Bar Owners (AHAR) has filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the Mumbai Collector's declaration of June 4th as a 'Dry Day' on account of the Lok Sabha election vote counting. Petitioners claim that the sale of alcohol was banned throughout the day, which is expected to conclude by noon with the results being announced soon after.
Request to reassess the decision
On Tuesday, lawyers Veena and Vishal Thadani mentioned two petitions against orders from both the Mumbai City and Suburban Collectors. Thadani informed the bench of Justices Arif Doctor and Somashekhar Sundaresan that AHAR had contacted the collectors at the end of April, requesting them to reconsider their decision to declare the entire day as a dry day.
Election Commission's directive
Thadani later noted that the collectors explained their decision was based on the directives of the Election Commission, which ordered that no alcohol sales would take place from 48 hours before voting day and throughout the vote counting day.
What did the association say in court?
The association argued that its members pay substantial licence fees to the state government to operate their business while many illegal liquor manufacturers and bootleggers in Mumbai manufacture and sell illicit as well as non-licit Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer. Illicit transactions flourish every time authorized alcohol shops are forced to close for various reasons. Bootleggers exploit the situation to make a hefty profit through illegal sales.
Thadani appealed to the collectors only to revise their order, suggesting that alcohol stores be allowed to open after the results are declared, rather than being shut the entire day. After listening to Thadani for a while, the bench instructed the lawyers to present their petition on May 22.
