Formulate a Plan to Take Back Empty Liquor Bottles: SC Warns Tamil Nadu Government
Tamil Nadu: If the scheme for the buyback of empty liquor bottles is not implemented in Tamil Nadu by May 31, every bottle of liquor sold at TASMAC outlets will be confiscated.
The Chennai High Court warned that it might issue an order to levy a charge of ₹10 per bottle as environmental compensation. A special bench of the Madras High Court, comprising Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, is currently hearing cases related to the environment, forests, and wildlife. The bench had previously directed the government to implement a scheme for the buyback of empty liquor bottles from TASMAC outlets located in hilly regions, including Udhagamandalam (Udhagai) and Kodaikanal.
Subsequently, the court ordered that this scheme be extended and implemented across all districts of Tamil Nadu. During the previous hearing of this matter, the government submitted a request stating that the empty bottle buyback scheme had been fully implemented in 28 districts and sought additional time to extend its implementation across the entire state. The judges acceded to this request.
Against this backdrop, when the case came up for hearing on Friday before the bench comprising Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, the government informed the court that it had invited tenders for printing QR codes on liquor bottles. If this process is completed and the scheme is successfully implemented, it would ensure that no additional burden is placed on TASMAC employees regarding the collection of empty liquor bottles. However, due to protests staged by TASMAC employees, the project could not be implemented across the entire state.
Consequently, a request was made to extend the deadline for implementing the scheme until May. The judges expressed strong disapproval of this request. They observed that despite having already granted a one-month extension, the scheme had still not been fully implemented. The court noted that if TASMAC employees had any objections, the government ought to have devised a suitable solution to address those concerns.
Therefore, the court set May 31 as the final deadline for the complete implementation of this scheme. If this scheme is not implemented by then, we will direct the TASMAC administration to collect ₹10 as environmental compensation for every bottle of liquor sold at TASMAC outlets; with this, the hearing was adjourned until June 5.
