NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Centre and other stakeholders on a plea seeking a ban on 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.
Advocate Vipin Nair, appearing for the petitioner, said the definition of "bottle" was vague under the excise regime and some standardisation must be there. When he referred to the packaging of some liquors in tetra packs bearing photos of a green apple, the bench observed, "This is very deceptive".
Nair said, "They are confusing fruit juice with liquor. They use photo of apple and the pack contains vodka".
He said it was the State's duty to protect the health of citizens.
"There are no warning signs like on tobacco. These packs are similar to those of fruits juices but contain vodka with pictures of green apples. There are chilli and mango vodka also," Nair argued.
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.
It said inconspicuous packaging had the potential to dramatically increase the public consumption of alcohol.
"The petitioner is constrained to file this public interest petition after observing that alcohol, particularly cheaper alcohol, is being sold in inconspicuous packaging viz portable PET bottles, plastic sachets, and tetra packs in various states across the nation," it said.
The plea said these packages posed various risks, including consumption by juveniles, drinking in a moving vehicle, health risks, increased ease of smuggling, ease of public consumption and environmental issues.
"Moreover, these tetra packs have attractive packaging with vivid colours but do not have prominent health warnings like in the case of cigarettes, which would dissuade people from drunken driving," it said.
The plea said a warning, if any, was only in fine print hardly visible or discernible to a consumer.
"It is alarming to note that these tetra packs are marketed under labels such as 'Bunty Premium Vodka', 'Chili Mango Vodka', and 'Premium Romanov Vodka – Apple Thrill', clearly intended to mislead consumers," it said.
The plea said bottling of alcohol in the country was regulated through Excise Acts of the respective states.
It said every Excise Act had its own definition of "bottle" and invariably all excise laws confer wide discretion on authorities to permit various types of packages for liquor.
"The discretion conferred on them is not guided either by environmental or health concerns. It appears that the only guiding factor for excise authorities is to increase the fiscal benefit for the state," the plea said.
It said liquor sold in inconspicuous packaging was very easy to sneak into public places such as parks and educational institutes and children could not be spotted easily if consuming alcohol from such packages.
"Apart from this, the environmental harm caused by plastic sachets, PET bottles, and tetra packs exacerbates the problem further. It is nearly impossible to recycle these bottles and there is no reason to encourage them apart from increasing revenues," it said.
The plea said since every state had its own policy for bottling, it was important for the apex court to intervene and protect the fundamental rights of citizens by banning the sale of alcohol in such packaging.