HC not to interfere in reopening of toddy shops in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad high court on Monday dismissed a plea against the introduction of toddy shops in Hyderabad. The bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice Sanjay Kumar said that permitting sale of toddy was a government policy and that the judiciary could not interfere in it.
The bench was hearing a PIL, which questioned the Telangana state government’s decision in facilitating the re-establishment of toddy shops after a gap of 10 years in the GHMC limits.
Professor PL Visweswara Rao, former IAS officer M Chaya Ratan and two others moved the PIL stating that the current system of toddy sale was neither benefiting common man nor toddy tappers. The PIL said it would help middlemen to make large quantities of adulterated toddy. The bench, however, told the petitioners that if they had any grievance about adulteration of toddy, they must approach the authorities under Food Adulteration Act with an FIR.