Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on plea against sale of alcohol in tetra packs
New Delhi: The Supreme Court The Center and other respondents on Wednesday issued notice to a petition seeking an immediate ban on the sale of alcohol in tetra packs and sachets, citing concerns over drunken driving and availability. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Jayamalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi agreed to hear the petition filed by the ‘Community Against Drunken Driving’ organisation.Advocate Vipin Nair, appearing for the petitioner, argued in the court that the definition of a “bottle” under the excise regime remained “vague” and required standardization.“They are mixing fruit juice with alcohol. They use pictures of apples and have vodka on the packet,” he said, stressing that the state has a responsibility to protect citizens’ health.The petition sought a direction to the Center to formulate a uniform policy for all states and union territories and to immediately ban the sale of alcohol in packaging formats like tetra packs and sachets.“The state has a moral responsibility to improve nutrition, standard of living, improve health, but this case shows that the state is only focused on raising revenue by exposing the public to excess alcohol consumption, especially by the youth. The state government is prioritizing revenue over public health,” said Prince Singhal, road safety expert and founder of Communities Against DDDCA (DunkriDCA).“Selling alcohol in tetra packs is profitable for producers due to lower cost of production, less wastage, easy portability. It is also profitable for the government as it increases sales, adding profitable revenue for the consumer. But in the meantime the public is drinking more,” he added.The petition also sought directions to the Center to frame a policy requiring states to amend their respective excise laws, rules and policies to adopt a uniform definition of “bottling”, restricting it to glass containers or other visually distinguishable containers.
