Court notice to govt on liquor vends

Irked over the mushrooming of liquor vends on green belts along roads, near schools, colleges, religious places and residential colonies, city residents, including a municipal councillor, have moved court for an early solution to the problem. Sanjeev K Ahuja reports.

Irked over the mushrooming of liquor vends on green belts along roads, near schools, colleges, religious places and residential colonies, city residents, including a municipal councillor, have moved court for an early solution to the problem.

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A total of 317 Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and country liquor vends operate in Gurgaon district. A majority of these are located off the main road, in green belts and on forest land.

The petitioners include municipal councillor of ward no 30 Nisha Singh; Divakar Prasad, a resident of Sushant Lok-3, and Col (retd) Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi, a resident of Uniworld Garden, Sector 47, Gurgaon.

In response to their petition, a city court on Friday issued a notice to the Gurgaon deputy commissioner, deputy excise and taxation commissioner (DETC), Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and the forest department to reply on March 12.

The petitioners have sought a stay on the new excise policy announced by the state government for the year 2013-14/15.

The policy allows setting up of liquor vends on green belts, in residential areas and near schools, the petitioners alleged.

As per the Haryana Excise Policy for 2013-14/15, liquor vends cannot run in the 150-metre radius of schools, colleges, hospitals and religious places, a fact reiterated by the Haryana excise and taxation minister Kiran Choudhry in February this year.