[Plea to ban liquor] "How many petitions have you got typed in your drawer:" Delhi High Court to Ashwini Upadhyay

The sheer number of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay prompted some remarks from the Delhi High Court on Friday [Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India and ors]..A Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna asked Upadhyay, who is also a BJP leader, how many such petitions he has kept ready, to be filed. "Mr Upadhyay, how many petition you have got typed, in your drawer, in printing. We will keep it all on October 1 and see in which notices are to be issued ..." the Court remarked.The Court was hearing a plea by Upadhyay seeking ban on liquor and drugs in the national capital."Our right to health is being violated," Upadhyay submitted. The Court eventually adjourned the matter for July 4 but did not issue notice. It hinted that it will take up other PILs filed by Upadhyay on that date."This matter is adjourned on July 4. Counsel for other side, please keep accumulating the petitions by him, we will see what is to be done on that date," the Court said.On Upadhyay asking for warning labels on liquor bottles in the interim, the Bench stated that will not issue any notice or directive at this stage. .The PIL has sought a direction to the Delhi government to prohibit the production, distribution and consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs in the national capital. The plea said that rather than taking steps to prohibit/control the consumption and production of liquor and drugs, the State government has, in the last seven years, made Delhi a “Liquor Capital of India.” This, Upadhyay claimed, violates the rights of the people under Article 21 of the Constitution.“Petitioner submits that Delhi has a total 280 municipal wards and until 2015, there were only 250 liquor shops i.e. on an average, one liquor shop in every municipal ward and 30 wards without a single liquor shop. However, under the New Liquor Policy, State government is planning to drastically increase the number of liquor shops and it would be around three liquor shops in every municipal ward, which is not only arbitrary and irrational but also brazenly offends rule of law as well as right to health guaranteed under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution,” the petition stated.The plea sought a direction to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to carry out a 'Health Impact Assessment' and ‘Environment Impact Assessment’ of production, distribution and consumption of the intoxicating drinks and drugs in the spirit of Articles 21 and 47 of the Constitution.“Article 47 is nevertheless fundamental and State is obligated to prohibit consumption of liquor-drugs but rather than advertising about health hazards of intoxicating drinks and drugs, State is promoting liquor consumption,” it was submitted. The plea added that a direction should be passed to the government to publish health warnings on liquor bottles and packages like the warning signs used on cigarette packets, and the same should be advertised through electronic, print and social media in order to secure the people’s right to know..[Read Live Account from the hearing]