Supreme Court declines to examine ‘Tetra Pack Liquor’ PIL, says ‘Whosoever wants to Buy, they will Buy’

The Supreme Court has shut the door on a PIL targeting Uttar Pradesh's alleged excise policy permitting liquor sales in tetra pack packaging, disposing of the petition after finding a critical evidentiary gap at the heart of the challenge. The ruling, delivered by a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant alongside Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi, carries immediate significance, it leaves the tetra pack liquor question unresolved at the judicial level while redirecting the petitioner toward the administrative process.

The petition rested on the allegation that the UP excise policy expressly permitted alcohol to be sold in small tetra pack containers, a format the petitioner's counsel argued posed a serious social hazard, particularly for children. Counsel painted a stark picture of accessibility, warning the bench that normalising such compact, inconspicuous packaging could see alcohol creeping into school environments, dramatically lowering the barrier to consumption among minors.

The State, however, had not placed the actual excise policy document before the Court, leaving the bench with nothing concrete to scrutinise, only a reference to an administrative decision dated February 4 that appeared to have sanctioned the smaller packaging format.

The bench found itself unable to adjudicate what it could not see. Without the policy document on record, the Court declined to express any view on the merits, observing that "it would not be expedient to express anything in relation thereto." Chief Justice Surya Kant also pushed back on the petitioner's alarmist framing, questioning whether there was any evidence of liquor actually penetrating educational institutions and remarking pointedly that packaging format alone does not drive consumption, "Whosoever wants to buy, they will buy." 

The writ petition was disposed of, with the petitioner granted liberty to submit the petition as a representation before the competent administrative authority for due consideration.