Chandigarh, August 16
UT Excise officials have no explanation for allowing liquor sale on Independence Day except that they had decided to follow Punjab.
While UT Excise Commissioner Arun Kumar says: “We are emulating Punjab”, sources admit the step was also taken to prevent losses to UT’s license holders who had been complaining that their interests were being hijacked by Punjab, where vends could open for some hours on I-Day.
A UT Excise official said: “We needed to achieve parity between Punjab and Chandigarh. So we decided to observe dry hours from 11 pm on August 14 to 7 pm on August 15. Liquor contractors had been complaining that they had to close their vends for 48 hours on I-Day as enforcement begins much in advance. Moreover, a day’s closure entails a loss of about Rs 50 lakh. The city has 76 vends.”
Even as UT officials are following Punjab, they seem to have little idea that Punjab’s own Excise Policy for this year has left some questions unanswered with respect to the term “Dry Days.” Clause 58 categorizes January 26, August 15 and October 2 as dry days.
However, the policy makers go a step ahead and add, “However on January 26 and August 15, the period of closure of vends will be from 7 am to 7 pm. The liquor vends will be allowed to open from 7 pm to 11 pm.”
As per the law, splitting a “Day” into hours amounts to wrong interpretation of the term Day, which has been defined as a period of 24 hours beginning at midnight both in the Mines Act, 1952 and the Industries Dispute Act. Section 2 (f) of the Mines Act, 1952 states, “A period of 24 hours beginning at midnight.” Legal experts term Punjab’s decision to divide Dry days (August 15 and January 26) into dry hours as “arbitrary” and “unconstitutional”.
Senior advocate at Punjab and Haryana High Court Mr Harinder Singh Gill says, “We have never heard of liquor sale on national holidays which are Dry Days all over the country. Punjab and Chandigarh seem to be the only exceptions. They have devised their own means to benefit the liquor lobby.
Their act of allowing liquor sale yesterday is an act of omission, meant to further the interests of liquor contractors. The law is very clear. A Day is a Day and it cannot be split into hours.”
Mr S.S. Mahajan, a senior lawyer who has handled many excise matters, also concurs, “In my 49 year long practice, I have not heard of liquor being sold on I-Day. National holidays have been notified by the Centre and they are to be observed as Dry Days. Punjab Excise policy makers have wrongly interpreted the law.”
