The Bombay high court on Friday granted an interim stay till June 30 on implementation of the government of Maharashtra’s order banning the sale of liquor in plastic bottles across the state.
A division bench of Chief Justice D.H. Waghela and Justice M.S. Sonak on Friday granted interim stay on implementation of the ban till June 30. The court posted the petitions for hearing on June 14. The petitions claimed that the government could not impose such a ban, as sale of liquor in a particular make of bottles is governed under the FSSA Act. Moreover, if it had to impose a ban, the government could have only done so through legislation and not by merely issuing a ‘resolution’.
Claiming that selling liquor in bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate is a health hazard, the government had issued a Government Resolution (GR) banning the sale of alcohol in plastic bottles. As per the GR, the ban was supposed to come into effect from Friday. However, the court stayed the ban for a temporary period.
However, soon after the order Distillers Association of Maharashtra and the
All India Plastic Manufacturers Association among others filed petitions in the high court, challenging the ban.
