Delhi High Court refuses to give direction on liquor bottle warning

The Delhi high court has refused to give directions to increase the size of statutory warning on liquor bottles and packaging. The high court said on Thursday that it is in the realm of policy making. 

A bench of acting chief justice Gita Mittal and justice Navin Chawla, however, directed the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to consider the plea as a suggestion and take a firm view in this regard. 

"The subject matter of the writ petition and the prayers made are in the realm of policy making and it is the respondents who are best placed to examine the same and take a view. "Even otherwise, the matter complained of and the prayers made are in the nature of policy decision making which are beyond the writ jurisdiction of this court," the bench said. 

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It disposed of the matter, saying if any action is required to be taken to mitigate the grievances pointed out in the petition, the same may be taken at earliest. 

The court was hearing pleas by Delhi resident Ved Pal and by an NGO Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD). They had file the plea suggesting written and pictorial warnings on liquor bottles against dangers of consuming alcohol and drunken driving. 

They have also sought directions to alcohol manufacturers to increase the size of the existing statutory warnings on the alcohol bottles. The petitions sought directions to the governments "to mandate all alcohol producers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, sellers, etc., nationwide to print in large font the dangers of consuming alcohol and driving".

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