Liquor at GIFT City | Dry Gujarat and its fluid relationship with liquor

The Gujarat government’s move to exempt GIFT City, a financial hub in Gandhinagar, from the liquor ban has become the latest political flashpoint in the state. Opposition parties like AAP and Congress, which have protested against the decision, have accused the BJP government of upending the longstanding norm of prohibition in the state and using the relaxation in GIFT City to further its political agenda.

Hitting out at the Bhupendrabhai Patel-led BJP government, both parties recently staged protests in Ahmedabad, claiming that the decision will ruin the youth of “Gandhi’s Gujarat.”

The new liquor regime takes effect on January 4, along with the commencement of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2024.

‘Against Gandhi’s ideals’

As per the new notification issued by the state’s Narcotics and Excise department, the owners of outlets in GIFT City will have liquor access permits. These businesses also have the power to authorise visitors with temporary permits to drink only within the premises of restaurants and hotels in the city. “The lifting of the ban in GIFT City is a clear indication that the BJP government wants to remove prohibition from the state. It will have a detrimental impact on society,” said Manish Doshi, the spokesperson of Gujarat Congress.

Stressing that the exception goes against the ideals set by Mahatma Gandhi, Doshi said the government should also understand the repercussions the lifting of the ban will have on women, as they are the ones who often get abused by alcoholic husbands.

“In a state where the capital is named after Mahatma Gandhi, this step is deplorable. Does the BJP government not see the plight of women in states where liquor is allowed? Besides, it will be harmful for health as well,” he added.

Meanwhile, AAP’s Gujarat chief Isudan Gadhvi hit out at the BJP government saying, “The move is not only humiliating to Gandhiji, but also the Gujaratis.”

Prohibition as a political weapon

Opposition leaders say the BJP for long had been using the issue of prohibition not only to stay in power but also to settle scores against political opponents.

Gadhvi, who was the AAP’s chief ministerial candidate in the 2022 Gujarat assembly polls, and was contesting from the Khambhalia constituency, was arrested for being drunk during a poll campaign ahead of the election. Gadhvi says he was shocked when a forensic report found traces of alcohol in his blood after his arrest from Gandhinagar.

In January 2023, just a month after the assembly polls, the Gujarat police slapped Sections 66(1)(b) and 85 (1) under the Gujarat Prohibition Act against him.

Following this, Gadhvi claimed that he has been a teetotaller all his life and has been framed. “After the use of the sedition law and UAPA against political opponents of governments, the BJP is now using the Prohibition Act,” he had said.

…tool of governance

This isn’t the first time liquor prohibition was used as a political tool in Gujarat.

In 2022, ahead of the Gujarat assembly elections, former chief minister, Shankersinh Vaghela, declared that his newly-formed political outfit Praja Shakti Democratic Party (PSDP) will contest the upcoming polls with a manifesto that promised a “scientific prohibition policy” for Gujarat.

“We will abolish the current prohibition law in Gujarat if voted to power,” Vaghela promised voters.

Noticeably, over the years, both the Congress and the BJP governments in Gujarat have taken many steps to relax prohibition to attract investments. Since 2003, the Prohibition Act has been amended four times by the BJP.

Narendra Modi, during his tenure as chief minister, had allowed licensed liquor stores in some hotels where only tourists can purchase alcohol from the licensed shops. The exemption came as a part of its tourism policy of the then Gujarat government.

Since then, there are 48,000 local permit holders in the state apart from tourist who apply for temporary permits based on their travel tickets. Noticeably, the local permits are issued on ‘health grounds’ in circumstances where a person (above 40 years) is prescribed liquor in small doses as a cure for heart-related ailments.

History of prohibition, its failure

The Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 that bans liquor, was enacted just a few months after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and has been in force in Gujarat since its formation in 1960.

However, data from both state Home Department and Narcotics and Excise Department, suggests that the implementation of prohibition has remained limited primarily on papers.

Despite having a separate state prohibition department, an illegal market of liquor has always been active across Gujarat. Between1980s and early 1990s, the bootlegging mafia was dominated by Abdul Latif Sheikh, a gangster based in Ahmedabad. Gujarat Police had registered more than 200 criminal cases against Latif and his gang on various charges including murders, kidnappings and bootlegging. However, Latif’s arrest and encounter in 1995 did not put an end to the illegal liquor trade in the state.

Liquor seizure

As per data from the state Narcotics and Excise Department, liquor worth ₹211.86 crore was seized from across the state between 2019 and 2022. Of this Indian-Made Foreign Liquor accounted for ₹1,197.45 crore, beer for ₹10.47 crore and country liquor for ₹3 lakh. The data also said that illegal consumption and sale of liquor is rampant in 25 of 33 districts.

Soon after the poll dates for the 2022 assembly elections were announced, about 9.61 lakh litres of liquor were seized across the state till December 3 by the surveillance unit appointed by the Election Commission.

According to a reply by the BJP government in the state assembly in 2022, liquor worth ₹316 crore was seized and worth ₹211 crore destroyed across the state between 2010 and 2016.

In 2017, Pramod Tandel, brother-in-law of Lalu Patel, a BJP MP from Daman, was accused by Gujarat Police in a number of cases under the Prohibition Act. Reportedly, Tandel had been involved in bootlegging and in the illegal supply of liquor from Daman into Gujarat.

In 2021, the Prohibition Act was challenged in the High Court. Several PILs were filed stating that the act had not yielded positive results in the years and if it should be still continued. Currently, the matter remains to be heard in the court.