Delhi High Court: The present public interest litigation was filed challenging the L-6 Liquor License and other approvals granted by Respondent 1 and 2 to Respondent 4 for operating a liquor vend at Janakpuri, New Delhi. The Division Bench of Manmohan, ACJ., and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, J., directed respondents to submit documents showing that the flat was located on a commercial road and that it was permissible to use the same for a liquor vend. The Court thus held that till further orders, there would be a stay on the opening of the liquor vend at Janakpuri, New Delhi.
Petitioner and its residents came to know on 2-2-2024 that Respondent 4 got L-6 Liquor license by Respondents 1 and 2 for opening and operating a retail vend of Indian liquor, beer etc. at Janakpuri, New Delhi on profit sharing basis/rent compensation basis. Thereafter, petitioner and its members including numerous residents approached the office of Respondents 1 and 2 requesting them not to proceed further with the appropriate permissions and approvals as the proposed liquor vend was neither as per the criteria and rules prescribed under Delhi Excise Act, 2009 and Delhi Excise Rules, 2010 nor in consonance with the Master Plan of Delhi, 2021 (‘MPD 2021’).
Petitioner submitted that the proposed liquor vend would be within 100m of Bharati College, Janakpuri wherein approximately 4000 girl students were enrolled, which might also be a safety concern. Petitioner also submitted that the Principal of the Bharati College after taking into consideration the gravity of the situation wrote a letter dated 15-2-2024 to the Commissioner (Excise), Excise, Entertainment & Luxury Tax Department, the Chief Manager (IMFL), DSIIDC and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, West District requesting them to cancel the license of the new liquor shop. Petitioner further submitted that by virtue of Para 15.6.2(e) of the MPD 2021, the opening of a liquor shop in a residential premise under the mixed-use policy of the MPD 2021 was expressly prohibited.
Respondents submitted that the liquor vend was in a flat on a ground floor, which had now been notified as a commercial road and according to the Excise Department, the distance between the said flat and the college was 135m.
The Court directed respondents to submit documents showing that the flat was on a commercial road and that it was permissible to use it for a liquor vend. The Court also directed respondents to disclose as to how under the mixed-use policy of the MPD 2021, a liquor vend could be permitted to be set up. The Court thus held that till further orders, there would be a stay on the opening of the liquor vend at Janakpuri, New Delhi.
The matter would next be listed on 27-3-2024.
[Resident Welfare Association (RWA) Regd v. State (NCT of Delhi), 2024 SCC OnLine Del 1610, Order dated 1-3-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: Ujwal Ghai, Shivek Rai Kapoor, Arpit Sharma, Sanchit Saini, Teeksh Singhal, Anmol Chopra, Anant Sharma, Advocates
For the Respondents: Anuj Aggarwal, ASC; Arshya Singh, Yash Upadhyay, Siddhant Dutt, Vikrant Yadav, Arun Birbal, Sanjay Singh, Advocates; Avinash Singh, ASO, Excise Dept.; Ashish Dixit, Jr. Law Officer
