Delhi High Court refuses to entertain petition against shortage of 'popular' and 'niche' beer brands in capital

The Delhi High Court, last week, refused to entertain a plea highlighting shortage of premium beer and other liquor brands like in the national capital during summer [M/S Path2way HR Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Vs. Govt. of NCT. of Delhi & Anr]. .Justice Yashwant Varma remarked that popularity of a liquor brand is a subjective concept and the court cannot decide what qualifies as 'niche' or 'popular'. "...this issue is something between you and the wholesaler, not you and the government. Moreover popularity of a brand is a subjective concept," Justice Varma said. .In a lighter vein, the judge also asked the petitioner -- a retailer selling liquor -- to consume what they sell so that they do not approach court for every issue else the court will have to impose costs."Your client is becoming a habitual litigant. Even if the wind ruffles the hair on his head, he runs to the Delhi High Court for it. Maybe he needs to start consuming something that he sells," the Court said.The judge further said that the new excise policy of Delhi government has assured that there will uninterrupted supply of liquor but it does not talk about any specific brand..After the Court's rap, the counsel appearing for the petitioner agreed to withdraw the plea. .The Court was dealing with a petition by a liquor retail firm named Path2way HR solutions.It was argued that the there was a shortage in supply of good quality beer in Delhi NCR every summer and that even easily available liquor brands like 'Royal Stag' or 'Black Label' were now nowhere to be seen at Delhi's premium stores. The plea stated that it was the duty of the government and the whole-sellers to make available sufficient amount of popular and niche brands of liquor on their portal for the retailers to procure but because this was not being done, the retailers were suffering heavy losses. .The same petitioner had earlier approached the court with two more pleas. While the first petition challenged fixation of Maximum Retail Price (MRP) for alcohol brands under the new excise policy, the other sought police protection for liquor vends. .Advocate NP Singh and Mohit Singh appeared for the petitioner. Standing Counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi along with advocates Arun Panwar, Sidharth Dwivedi, Aditya Jadhav, Pradyuman Rao, HS Sachdeva, and Savita Sethi appearing for the Delhi government..[Read Order]