The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and other stakeholders on a plea to ban the sale of alcohol in 'inconspicuous packaging' such as tetra packs and sachets.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi agreed to hear the petition filed by NGO Community Against Drunken Driving, and issued notices to the Centre and others, including the excise departments of all the states.
The plea sought a direction to the Centre to frame a policy applicable to all states and Union Territories and to ban the sale of alcohol in packaging such as tetra packs and sachets.
It also sought a direction to the Centre to frame a policy in respect of the states to amend their respective excise Acts, rules, and policies forthwith, adopting uniform definitions of 'bottling' limited to glass containers or other visibly distinct receptacles.
The petition said there should be standardisation and harmonisation of excise policies of different states regarding the bottling of liquor.
