Finding that the petitioners were selling non-alcoholic substances, according to the BIS standard, the Patna High Court held that the petitioners had not committed any offence under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, nor the FIR discloses any offence, much less any cognizable offence, said to be committed by the petitioners. Accordingly, the Court quashed the FIR initiated against the petitioners for selling beverages containing alcohol, in the name of an energy drink.
The Court clarified that the Act specifies that an alcoholic beverage or portable liquor should conform to the standard fixed by BIS, and the test, which was conducted after near about one month and fifteen days revealing alcoholic content, was no ground to held the petitioner liable, as alcoholic content was found on account of fermentation which had taken place due to span of time.
The law is well settled that the offence is to be determined on the date of its commission, and if on the date of seizure, the energy drink was not containing any alcoholic substance, the offence was not committed as per the provisions of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, added the Court.
A reference was made to Section 2(3), Section 2(4), and Section 2(6) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act to observe that it prohibits the intoxicant or liquor containing alcohol of any strength and purity, as per the definition of “alcoholic” under Section 2(3). Simultaneously, the Bench observed that the Statute does not prohibit the sale of non-alcoholic substances in conformity with the standard set by the BIS, in view of the definition and clarification contained under Section 2(4)(6) of the Act.
A Single Judge Bench of Justice Alok Kumar Pandey, therefore, clarified that if the legislature had intended to put a complete prohibition even on non-alcoholic beverages as per the standard of BIS, there was no need to incorporate clarification in the form of a definition of the word “alcoholic beverage or portable liquor” under Section 2(4) of the Excise Act.
Briefly, in this case, a news item was published in ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ alleging the sale of beer in the guise of an energy drink, and claiming that energy drinks, namely, “Thunder Bolt” and “Kingfisher”, were found to contain 4-5% alcohol content. The information was said to have been received by the Excise Superintendent of Madhubani District that the Energy Drink was being sold and distributed by one Siddhi Enterprises from Patna. Thereafter, a raid was conducted, revealing different beverages, which culminated in an FIR on the ground that beverages containing alcohol were being sold in the name of an energy drink, and the owner and staff of said firm were misusing bottles that resembled branded beer.
Appearances:
Advocates Arvind Kumar Tewary and Akanksha Verma, for the Petitioner
Advocate Nalin Vilochan Tiwary, for the Respondent/ State
