States Should Consider Home Delivery of Liquor During Lockdown: SC

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking clarity on social distancing norms while resuming liquor sales.

Long queues were witnessed outside liquor shops in Delhi despite imposition of 70 per cent as coronavirus fee on the sale of liquor.

(Photo: PTI/Atul Yadav)

Disposing of a petition seeking clarity on maintaining social distancing while resuming liquor sales amid coronavirus lockdown, the Supreme Court on Friday, 8 May, advised states to consider “indirect sales/home delivery of liquor.”

Hearing the case via video conferencing, a bench comprising of Justices Ashok Bhushan, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and BR Gavai said, “We will not pass any order but the states should consider indirect sale/home delivery of liquor to maintain social distancing norms and standards.”

Liquor sales in the country, except containment zones, were resumed in hope of earning some revenue for a cash-strapped economy. But following the move, many videos emerged from different cities showing long queues and violation of social distancing norms.

To discourage the crowd, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh levied "Special Corona fee” of 70% and 75% respectively on liquor while Mumbai shut down the shops, two days after reopening them.

Meanwhile, food delivering company Zomato is planning to venture out into door-to-door delivery of alcohol, according to a report by Reuters.