The Delhi government has defended its New Excise Policy 2021 before the high court, saying that the new regime would generate optimum revenue and ensure ease of doing business while eliminating cartelization, proxy players and monopoly. In its response to a batch of pleas challenging the new policy on liquor trade, the Delhi government has said that privatisation of government liquor vends and redistribution of all liquor vends equitably across the city "would most certainly lead to a manifold increase in free competition and overwhelm existing cartels in the market".

"The government of NCT of Delhi has declared its Excise Policy 2021-22, with the further objective apart from achieving optimum revenue for the government, to eradicate the sale of spurious liquor or non-duty paid liquor in Delhi and transform the consumer experience, besides simplifying the highly complex heavily regulated excise regime, ensuring ease of doing business in the overall trade and to not allow the formation of any monopoly or cartel," the Delhi government's counter-affidavit reads.

Asserting that the citizens of India have no fundamental right to trade in liquor, the government has said that the Excise Policy 2021-22 was formulated in the larger public interest and since it is a matter of economic policy, it does not warrant judicial interference. The government has clarified that a decision was taken to give wholesale business to the experienced persons with a minimum experience of five years in the field to "make the liquor business more responsible and safer in the larger public interest" and "no one is prohibited across-the-board in the country subject to other terms and conditions" to participate in the e-tendering process for the 32 zonal licenses for retail vends.

The court is further informed that while the fixation of MRP would be by the Excise Commissioner through a consultative mechanism and wholesale price through a mathematical formula, the actual retail price may be determined by the competitive market forces. Specifications of liquor shops have been upgraded and modernised, including compulsory air-conditioning, to "give world-class experience to the consumers", it reads.

With regards to reducing the legal drinking age to 21 years, the Delhi government has said that the age of selling or serving liquor should be in consonance with that of the neighbouring states where the legal drinking age is already 21 years. License regarding home delivery of liquor has been in existence since long and would now result in less overcrowding outside the liquor store or shops, it added. Several petitions are pending before the court against the New Excise Policy on the ground that it is illegal, unfair, arbitrary and violative of the Delhi Excise Act, 2009.

Last month, the court had refused to stay the new Excise Policy on the petition by Readymade Plaza India Pvt Ltd, which contended that the new regime would lead to complete monopoly of the few big players. The Delhi government had stated that its new Excise Policy 2021-22 aimed at minimising corruption and providing fair competition in the liquor trade and that all apprehensions against it were only fanciful.

The AAP government had said that there was a full-scale assault on it on the issue and that a reply would be filed to make its stand clear.