Above: Punjab and Haryana High Court has received a petition from a Chandigarh-based NGO.

The Punjab government’s novel method of amending its Excise Act to bring liquor back to the peripheries of state and national highways through a loophole has come in for attack from a Chandigarh-based NGO Arrive Safe Society.

The amendment allows consumption of liquor at hotels beside highways, though it does not allow any takeaway.

The NGO on June 29 filed a petition with the Punjab and Haryana High Court, saying that the state government, in order to encourage liquor sales, passed the ‘impugned’ amendment of Punjab Excise (Amendment Bill) 2017.

“The State of Punjab through the impugned amendment has tried to modify the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as per its own convenience and has added an additional phrase, regarding motorable or walking distance of 500m, which phrase does not exist in the judgment passed by the Supreme Court,” president of Arrive Safe Society, Harman Singh Sidhu has told the media.

Sidhu, who is a road safety activist clarified that the amendment uses a very vague term of “notified place” and permits the sale of liquor at such notified places, hotels, clubs and restaurants.

“The term would definitely be misused to mean a tavern as a notified place and the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as also the intent with which it was passed in national interest would be diluted. The impugned amendment cleverly tries and fails to distinguish between ‘sale of liquor’ and ‘supply of liquor’. Any liquor sold has to be supplied or served or handed over to the prospective buyer then be he or she parting with money at a vend or restaurant or club,” Sidhu said.

The petitioner has requested the court to quash the Punjab Excise (Amendment Bill) 2017 passed on June 22 citing the amendment as ultra-vires and against the dictum of the judgments passed by Supreme Court, say media reports.

—India Legal Bureau