Gujarat HC Reserves Order On Petition Against Liquor Prohibition Laws

BACKGROUND

• The Gujarat Government passed the Gujarat Prohibition Act in 1949 prohibiting the manufacturing, selling, purchasing, and consuming liquor in the state.
• It has been challenged many times by different petitioners before the Gujarat High Court since 2018.
• The Gujarat Government had requested the High Court to look into the pleas made regarding the quashing of the said Act.

PETITIONER’S ARGUMENTS

• Rajiv Patel, the petitioner argued that the law is irrational and unfair and the state cannot decide what an individual can drink or eat.
• The petitioner also argued that the people have the right to choose their way of living unless they are not causing inconvenience to others and this law violates an individual's Right to Life and personal liberty and is against Article 21 of the Constitution.
• They also prayed before the Court to strike down the various Sections of the impugned Act as they were ultra vires of Article 246 of the Constitution.

STATE’S ARGUMENTS

• Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, on behalf of the state, opposed the arguments of the petitioner and stated that eating non-veg within four walls is different from consuming alcohol as it is injurious to health.
• He contended that an individual’s Right to Privacy is subject to reasonable restrictions such as the social environment.
• He also mentioned that the Supreme Court has upheld the validity of the challenged Act in 1951 and the High Court does not have authority to examine its validity after the order of the Apex Court.
• Senior Advocate Prakash Jani, representing one of the petitioners that the Act has been in existence for the past 70 years and people of Gujarat are happy with it.

ORDER

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Biren Vaishnav reserved its order on the maintainability of the petitions challenging the Act.

What do you think of this case?