The allotment of liquor contracts in Chandigarh will be heard in the Punjab and Haryana High Court today. The High Court had issued an order directing to keep the liquor contracts closed for 3 days in Chandigarh. But the Supreme Court lifted the ban imposed by the High Court to keep the liquor contracts closed from 1 to 3 April.
This ban was imposed due to the petitions filed regarding the tender process of liquor contracts. But the Supreme Court rejected this decision of the High Court. The Supreme Court said that the High Court did not give any clear basis for closing the contracts, due to which this stay is lifted.
91 out of 97 contracts are of the same group
Every year on 1 April, liquor contracts are allotted to new contractors in Chandigarh. This time a controversy arose regarding the allotment of contracts. Many traders filed a petition in the High Court alleging that 91 out of 97 contracts in Chandigarh have been given to the same group.
Hearing this petition, the High Court had ordered to keep the liquor shops closed in Chandigarh till April 3 and maintain the status quo. The next hearing of the case will be on April 4, after which further decision will be taken.
Allegations of irregularities in tender process
The petitioners say that the tender process was completely flawed. Under the policy, no person, firm or company was allowed to acquire more than 10 shops, so that monopoly could be prevented. But the administration ignored this rule and allowed some individuals to acquire shops through their family, associates and employees, giving them abnormal control over the liquor business.
The petitioners also said that the entire tender process lacked transparency and was not conducted in a fair manner. The basic objective of the excise policy was to ensure fair distribution of liquor shops and prevent the dominance of any one group, but irregularities were clearly visible in this tender process.
