E-Paper
Madras HC bans liquor sales for 3 hours on New Year's night in Puducherry
The high court has allowed New Year celebrations in Puducherry on the evening of December 31 for only doubly vaccinated citizens.
The Madras high court on Wednesday ordered a ban on the sale of liquor for three hours on New Year's night in Puducherry. The ban will be put in place from 10pm on December 31 till 1am on January 1, 2022.
A bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the order while hearing a petition filed by GA Jagannathan, a resident of Puducherry.
"Prevention is better than cure", the court said, noting that it was an extraordinary decision for a tourist destination like Puducherry.
The petitioner was seeking a complete ban on celebrations to contain the spread of Covid-19, but the court allowed New Year events to go ahead.
The Madras high court, instead, restricted the sale of alcohol during the mentioned time window in bars, bar-attached restaurants/hotels or any other places for public consumption.
The court further said only those in Puducherry with both vaccination doses will be allowed in public places after 7pm on December 31.
The Puducherry government has imposed a night curfew from 1am to 5am on January 1, 2022, to avoid crowding on the occasion of New Year.
The Union territory reported two cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on Tuesday. It registered 12 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, raising the overall tally to 1,29,446.
