Chandigarh, March 28 — A day after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the operation of all liquor vends in Chandigarh from April 1, the UT administration has decided to challenge the order in the Supreme Court.
UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria has approved the move, and the petition will be filed on Friday, according to officials.
The high court’s stay, issued during a hearing on Wednesday, blocks the operation of all 96 liquor vends auctioned by the administration until at least April 3, when the court will revisit the petitions challenging the allotments.
The order followed multiple petitions alleging that a single family and its associates secured 87 of the 96 vends auctioned on March 21, violating the 2025-26 UT excise policy. The UT’s legal team, led by senior advocates Rajiv Atma Ram and Amit Jhanji, argued that the petitions were an attempt to extend operations beyond March 31, 2025.
With the current financial year ending on March 31, existing licensees must wind up operations, leading to no liquor sales at vends for at least three days in the new fiscal year.
The auction, which generated ₹606 crore in revenue—36% above the ₹439-crore reserve price—saw 96 of 97 vends allotted. However, the HC bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Vikas Suri directed all parties to maintain the status quo, effectively freezing the policy’s implementation from April 1.
