The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the basis for refusing water supply to the distilleries and breweries in drought-hit Maharashtra after it was asked to modify a Bombay High Court order that recently ordered the State to cut up to 60 per cent water supplied to the liquor producing units in the wake of the dry spell in Marathwada region.
The petitioner before the High Court, Sanjay Bhaskarrao Kale, had approached the Vacation Bench of the Supreme Court to ensure not a single drop of water is supplied to the distilleries and breweries in the State in the face of severe drought conditions this year.
Snubbing the petitioner for pursuing such a petition for “publicity”, the Bench of Justices Prafulla C Pant and Dhananjay Y Chandrachud refused to pass any directions to the State. It even did not choose to alter the High Court order realising that the order passed by the Aurangabad Bench of the HC was an interim direction and the matter is to be finally decided at a later stage.
However, the Bench questioned the basis for judicial intervention in such a matter. It said, “These are all policy decisions and the court’s interference will be like taking over governance. Even the 60 per cent cut has no basis. There can be no justification. These are all policy decisions and the courts cannot interfere in all these matters.”
The Bench told the petitioner’s counsel to rest content with the HC order as it strikes a “balance” between the interest of the petitioner and that of the liquor industry. The petitioner later decided to withdraw the petition and sought liberty to approach the High Court.
The Aurangabad Bench’s order became effective from May 10 and is to remain operational till June 27. The HC had also ordered the State Government to curtail water supply to other industrial units to ensure the limited water stock gets diverted to people for their daily needs.