HC contempt notice to MP government

The Madhya Pradesh High Court restrained the government from taking any coercive action against liquor contractors and issued notices on a contempt of court plea.

Around 70 percent retail liquor outlets in the state have not opened because the contractors want a revision of license terms.  They have been arguing that they will incur huge losses if they open shops as the situation have changed drastically due to Covid-19  spread and lockdown restrictions in the state.

In a bid to persuade contractors to open shops, the government relaxed timings and hiked the price of liquor by 10 percent. However, the contractors did not agree and argued that the opening of shops will cause the infection to spread and subsequently moved to the High Court seeking re-auction of the shops or revision of the original license terms.