Overview
- The Supreme Court bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran struck down Rules 18A and 18B of the Maharashtra Poisons Rules as disproportionate and in violation of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g), saying mandatory addition of colourants and bitterants unduly burdened lawful industry.
- The court said the denaturing rules lacked a reasonable link to preventing hooch deaths and noted that prohibition can push the trade underground, citing about 600 deaths in Gujarat from mass hooch incidents since 1960.
- Instead of product‑modification, the judgment recommended breaking the illicit supply chain through tighter methanol procurement, dedicated tankers, stock records and periodic licence verification to detect pilferage and diversion.
- The court ordered states and Union territories to coordinate police, excise, transport, industries and health departments, improve border and vehicle checks, identify illegal breweries, and circulate the judgment to High Courts and chief secretaries for action.
- The ruling also called for health‑system steps such as specialised disaster plans in hospitals, more de‑addiction and counselling services, public awareness campaigns and prompt enforcement against licence breaches to reduce future mass poisonings.