In abkari cases, the court was forced to acquit the accused purely on technical grounds, which arose from the failure of the excise officers. Many abkari cases are related to spurious toddy and seizure of arrack from licensed toddy shops across the state.
However, the powers-that-be have chosen to find fault with the court for pointing out the unhealthy practice prevailing in toddy sector, without looking into the spirit in which the HC pointed out the malady.
The state justifies its stand by saying that ban on toddy would make the toddy workers jobless.
The number of persons consuming the spurious toddy exceeds the number of workers multi-fold.
“Are the politicians more concerned about the jobs of a few toddy workers than the health of numerous persons, who consume spurious toddy believing the same to be pure one. Don’t the consumers have a right to get what they pay for,” the court said.
The court also said the argument that the workers will be left in the lurch, if toddy is banned, was very weak.
The toddy workers can be easily rehabilitated in a clean and healthy manner. “If the people in power adopt the policy of court-bashing instead of thinking in terms of adopting such policies to safeguard the health of the people, the poor people will be forced to believe that the priority of the authorities is not the welfare of the people but mere appeasing of vote banks to the detriment of the health of the people whom they profess to serve,” it said.
Comments
0 comment