Sep 20: Karnataka High Court has ruled in a Judgement announced on 13 September that Online Sale of Wine and alcohol cannot be permitted online even if the mobile wallet allows shipment of goods after payment through eWallets, unless the State Excise department allows such sales specifically, writes Subhash Arora who feels it ought to be allowed within the State with stringent checks on the age of the buyer but asserts the excise laws must govern such sales as provided in the Constitution
While dismissing the petition by HIP Bars of Bangalore represented by the eminent lawyer and a senior counsel, P Chidambaram who is in the negative news for other reasons these days , Justice S Sujatha pointed out the social stigma attached to alcohol and the inability of the liquor companies to control the sale to minors who are being tempted by the harmful product, the excise department is at liberty to not allow such sales and is within its jurisdiction not to allow.
Justice S. Sujatha delivered the verdict while dismissing a petition filed by Hip Bar Pvt. Ltd., which had questioned the withdrawal of the Letter of Authority (LoA) granted to it on August 1, 2017, by the State government for online order processing and delivery of Indian and foreign liquor including beer, wine and Low Alcoholic Beverages, according to The Hindu
The LoA was apparently withdrawn on November 3, 2018 without issuing any notice after a local TV channel had produced a news report. The company had sought a declaration from the court that online order processing and delivery of liquor to the consumers did not require licence under the Karnataka Excise Act as the company was not engaged in the sale of wine and liquor. HIP Bars had claimed that it was only acting as a facilitator for the sale of liquor by the licensee merchant to the consumer through a digital wallet acting on the order placed by the customers on its digital platform.
However, the court said that the transfer was a ‘sale’ under the provisions of the Act, 1965 as applicable, and the possessing and transporting of liquor by the petitioner-company to various end customers is not excepted under the Act or the Rules. “There are various types of licences one needs to have to store/manufacture/sell/possess/transport. Hence, it is illegal if any sale or purchase is made through any other mode than prescribed under the Act 1965 in Karnataka. It is only the licence holders who are entitled to sell the liquor,” the court said, while pointing out that e-commerce trade with other goods cannot be compared with the sale of liquor online.
“Indisputably, liquor is deleterious to the health of mankind. The social stigma attached to it as far as the family and society is concerned cannot be lost sight of. Younger generation including children below the permissible age succumbing to this temptation of liquor consumption may not be stringently regulated through online orders. The eligibility of age and sound mind to receive and consume liquor is difficult to monitor with the trade carried out by the petitioner-company,” observed Justice Sujatha. She also pointed out that there was a prescribed timings for sale of liquor by law, but delivery through online sale would mean a 24*7 sale.
Subhash Arora
delWine’s take- Although we support online sale of wines, it is quite a complex matter, especially because of the sale to minors, which cannot be avoided with the businesses interested only in the sales and profits and not caring about their social responsibility like it came to surface in the recent raids in Delhi. Unless the Excise can be very strict and has the wherewithal to instantly suspend licenses in such cases and criminally prosecute the rogue business and unless the sales can be only within the State, the Excise needs to focus instead on many other burning topics that are threatening the very survival of the wine industry- Author
If you Like this article please click on the Like button