The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre, states and Union Territories on a petition alleging the sale of liquor in tetra packs and sachets that use “very deceptive” images of fruits.
The petition claimed that such “inconspicuous packaging” could encourage the illegal sale of liquor at public places, parks and playgrounds, luring underaged people to consume alcohol.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi sought the response of the authorities within four weeks on the plea filed by the NGO Campaign Against Drunken Driving, complaining of a lack of oversight to deal with such misconduct. The NGO claimed such a practice could lead to more drunk driving cases, resulting in major traffic accidents.
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 the photo of an apple and the pack contains vodka.”
Nair said there were no warning signs on these liquor sachets like those on cigarette packets. These packs are similar to those of fruit juices but contain vodka with pictures of green apples, Nair said, adding there are “chilli and mango vodka also”.
“These packages pose various risks, including consumption by juveniles, drinking in a moving vehicle, health risks, increased ease of smuggling, ease of public consumption, and environmental risks. 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 and responsible drinking. The warning, if any, is only in small fine print, which would be hardly visible or discernible to a consumer,” the petition said.
“Such packaging, being deceptively similar to fruit juices, facilitates easy access and concealment, encourages underage consumption, promotes public drinking and drunk driving, and even enables smuggling across state borders,” it added.
The NGO said there should be standardisation and harmonisation of excise policies of different states regarding the bottling of liquor.
In India, the bottling of alcohol is regulated through excise acts of the respective states. Every excise legislation has its own definition of “bottle” and gives a lot of elbow room to excise authorities to permit various types of liquor packaging.