The Delhi High Court on Monday granted time to the Delhi Government to file its response on a petition filed by a Residents’ Welfare Association of Delhi’s Meet Nagar, seeking shutting down of a liquor vend in the area.
Advocate Santosh Kumar Tripathi, representing the Delhi Government, informed the Single-Judge Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao that in pursuance of the order of the Court, an inspection of the site in question has been carried out, but the status report on whether or not the said outlet was in violation of the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, was still awaited.
In light of this submission, the Court granted time to the Government to file a status report and slated the matter for February 23.
Filed through Advocates Adit S. Pujari and Chaitanya Sundriyal, the plea alleged that the liquor outlet in question was in violation of the Delhi Excise Policy, 2021-22 and Rule 51(1) of the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010, in as much as the outlet was being opened at a distance of less than 100 meters from two schools situated near the petitioner society.
In respect of another outlet prayed to be shut down in the plea, the Government had, previously, filed a response, stating therein that the site in question was found to be in violation of the Excise Rules and thereby, steps were being taken to cancel the liquor licence in respect of the said premises.
The Court, in December last year, had asked the Government to carry out necessary inspection of the site in question and furnish a report, stating as to whether the licence was liable to be cancelled.