Why don’t you consider lifting the ban on toddy in Tamil Nadu, Madras HC ACJ asks State govt.

Madras High Court ACJ questions ban on toddy sale, suggests reconsideration due to hooch tragedies, health benefits, and demand.

The Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) D. Krishnakumar on Monday asked why shouldn’t the State government consider the possibility of lifting the ban imposed in 1986 on sale of toddy especially in the wake of recent hooch tragedies that had claimed many lives.

Presiding over the first Division Bench along with Justice K. Kumaresh Babu, the ACJ said that the poor, who could not afford to purchase Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) from Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) shops, appear to be losing their lives due to spurious liquor.

Therefore, “it might be the right time for you to reconsider the ban,” the ACJ said while hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by S. Muralidharan, an IT company employee from Chennai, to declare the 1986 amendment to the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act of 1937 as illegal.

In his affidavit, the petitioner had stated the process of tapping sap from palymrah trees and fermenting it into toddy had been age old tradition passed down from generations. For many centuries, it had been a staple in the daily lives of the rural communities in Tamil Nadu, he claimed.

Stating that fresh toddy, before it ferments into an alcoholic beverage, had several health benefits too, the petitioner said, a blanket ban on toddy was a disproportionate exercise especially when much stronger spirits such as IMFL were made available in the market through Tasmac.

He said the government could lift the ban and regulate the sale of toddy to prevent recurrence of hooch tragedies such as the ones that took place in Kallakurichi and Marakkanam recently. He said, the Tamil Nadu Toddy Federation too had been making the demand for the last 37 years.

During the course of hearing of the case, the ACJ made it clear that the issue related to lifting the ban on toddy was a policy decision to be taken by the government and the court could not issue any positive direction on such issues. He, however, said, the government could consider the possibility of lifting the ban.