Excise department notifies four dry days in Delhi during July-Sept quarter

livemint.com:

in Delhi on July 29, August 15, September 7 and September 28. “Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal approved a proposal of excise department for a ban on liquor sale on Muharram, July 29, Independence Day, August 15, Janmashtami, September 7, and Eid-e-Milad on September 28," said a Delhi government statement.

Dry days are notified by the Delhi government every three months. As per the Delhi Excise Rules, liquor vends cannot sell alcoholic beverages on any dry day but this prohibition does not apply to the sale of alcohol at duty-free shops or serving liquor at hotels, restaurants, bars and special events permitted by the department.

The schedule of dry days is announced by the excise department and the number typically increases in years that also see elections, said a report by Hindustan Times citing an excise department official. Delhi has 21 dry days in a year, one of the highest in the country.

The Delhi government switched to notifying only three dry days in January 2022 following the implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22 that sought to revitalise the city’s flagging liquor business, according to the report by HT. Within a month of DMRC's decision to allow commuters to carry two sealed liquor bottles in Delhi Metro trains, the Delhi government’s excise department on Tuesday red-flagged the relaxation and sought it to be changed for being contrary to the law.

As per the Excise Act, only one sealed bottle of liquor like rum, vodka and whisky could be carried from one state to another. The Metro trains ferry commuters between Delhi and NCR cities like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad and allowing two sealed bottles to be carried by any person will be in violation of the Act, an