Buying liquor from Delhi? 5-year jail term for Noida, Ghaziabad residents violating rules; here’s what Adityanath government’s new law says
Are you a resident of Noida and Ghaziabad and prefer buying liquor from Delhi at cheaper rates? If yes, you better watch out for the border checkpoints if you do not wish to turn your planned house party into some avidable jailtime. New rules introduced by the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh that kicked in from April 1 stipulate some stringent measures that include a jail term up to 5 years along with a fine of Rs 5,000, according to report in The Times of India.
In a series of changes introduced in the existing law on sale of alcohol in the state, the Yogi Adityanath government amended the Excise Act, 1910, in September last year with an objective to check the import of liquor from other neighbouring states. The law says that a person will be subject to face the law if found entering the UP from other states with more than one sealed bottle of alcohol. According to the new law, this act of transporting liquor from another state to UP will be considered a non-bailable offence and an accused could face a maximum jail sentence of five years along with a fine of Rs 5,000 or ten times of the revenue the state government would have collected from the bottles.
The rules, however, will not apply to bottles that are open.
As per the TOI report, Ghaziabad district Excise office Gyanendra Tripathy said that under the amended law, a person is permitted to bring only one unit of alcohol at a time in Uttar Pradesh from other states. According to the official, if anyone is found importing more than one bottle, it will be considered that he is doing so for generating revenue and a charge of liquor smuggling may be invoked.
In Noida and Ghaziabad, it is a common practice for people to buy liquor from Delhi because of cheaper rates.
Also, the amended law has curtailed the business hours of the liquor shops by 4 hours across the state. Now the shops will be allowed to do business between 12 noon and at 10 pm. Earlier, shops were allowed to start their operation at 9 am and down their shutter at 11 pm. The decision in this regard was taken on the basis of suggestions made by various residential associations.
The state Excise department said that decision in this regard will not affect the revenue and help in checking the illegal trade of liquor.