The Supreme Court, while hearing a plea seeking to stop illicit liquor sale in Punjab on Monday, pulled up the state government over inaction and delay in controlling the menace.
“Youth will be finished…This drugs and alcohol problem is a serious issue in Punjab," said a division bench of the top court headed by Justice M R Shah.
The bench further noted that Punjab is a border state and every effort to save the country have to be taken.
“If somebody wants to finish the country, they will start with the borders. They have to take every effort to save the country, it is very easy to ruin the youth," said the bench.
The court while posting the matter for next date asked the state government to file its reply on the steps taken to combat domestic and commercial production and how funds seized will be utilised for awareness campaign or increasing manpower.
“The state may also come out with a circular on effective investigation and enquiry that if any illegal bhatti is found, the local police will be held responsible for not keeping a vigil," the court said.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
The Supreme Court last month expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation into some cases of illicit liquor trade in Punjab and said the state was treating the issue with “kid gloves".
The apex court, which observed that poor and downtrodden people are the “sufferers" of hooch tragedies, directed the Punjab excise department to apprise it about the particulars concerning certain FIRs that have been lodged in this regard.
“You are treating it with kids glove," the bench observed.
Supreme Court slams Punjab government over rampant manufacturing and sale of illegal liquor in the State and says that drugs and alcohol problem is a serious issue in the state of Punjab. SC says the Punjab government is only filing FIRs and further action is not being taken. pic.twitter.com/VNAJ0viydC— ANI (@ANI) December 5, 2022
The SC was hearing a plea related to a September 2020 order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court that had disposed of a petition seeking transfer of some first information reports (FIR) registered in Punjab in relation to distillation of spurious liquor, its sale and inter-state smuggling, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
With Agency Inputs
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