Supreme Court refuses Bihar liquor manufacturers to take remaining stock outside state

Source – thehansindia.com

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant any relief to Bihar liquor manufacturers, who had knocked its doors seeking permission to take the remaining stock of liquor outside the state.

The Bihar Government had told the Apex Court that approximately Rs 200 crore of old liquor stock was destroyed.

Earlier on July 31, the Supreme Court refused to extend the deadline for Bihar liquor traders to shift their stock of alcohol outside the state.

The court said that the traders’ remaining alcohol stock will have to be destroyed after July 31.

A bench headed by Justice A.K. Sikri allowed the plea filed by the manufacturers to extend the deadline from May 31 to July 31.

Earlier, the court had extended till May 31 the deadline of April 30, which was fixed after the Nitish Kumar Government imposed a ban on liquor in the state from April 5 last year.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, submitted before the bench that the firms would be incurring huge losses if they are not allowed to dispose the existing stocks.

On October 7, 2016, the Supreme Court had stayed the operation of Patna High Court judgment nullifying the state law prohibiting sale and consumption of all types of liquor in the state.

The order came on Bihar Government’s appeal against the High Court verdict quashing the prohibitory order.

The Bihar Government then came out with a new law against sale and drinking of alcohol within a month of the High Court order.