CORRESPONDENT
AIZAWL, Jan 31: The Aizawl Bench of the Gauhati High
Court has quashed the Mizoram Government’s order for
extension of dry days in the
State. After prolonged dry days
since December 21 last year,
liquor shops reopened here today. Long queues of people
were seen in front of the shops.
“During the dry days, the
price of liquor skyrocketed.
Now it is available at the earlier rates,” said a customer at
a liquor shop in the Millennium Centre.
The Aizawl Bench of the
Gauhati High Court on Tuesday quashed the Mizoram
Government’s order for extension of the dry days till
March 10, following lawsuits
filed by the Mizoram Liquor
Dealers’ Association and owners of three bonded warehouses in the State.
The court ruled that even if
the Mizoram Government is
intent on bringing in a law to
ban liquor, it has to give sufficient time to the petitioners to
sell the stock already available
in the State. The court found
that declaration of the dry days
for such a long period is “arbitrary” and “not justified”.
“The state respondents
shall allow the petitioners to
import liquor on the basis
of existing/valid permits and
sell liquor as per the validity of their licences,” the
court ruled.
The liquor dealers and
owners of bonded warehouses together filed the lawsuits
on January 17 against the Mizo
National Front Government’s
decision to extend the dry
days till March 10.
Keen on imposing prohibition, the Mizo National Front
Government had declared dry
days from December 21 last
year to January 14 in view of
the Christmas and New Year
celebrations.
The day days
were again sought to be extended till March 10.
With the High Court’s
judgement, Mizoram will
become ‘wet’ for at least
two months, after which the
Government will be ready
with a new law to replace the
existing law.
The court had earlier set
January 22 as the date for hearing on the case, but rescheduled it for January 29, giving
the government advocates
time to submit notifications on
dry days, and sought more
documents.
- Assam Tribune
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