A psychiatrist on Tuesday withdrew his Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed in the High Court of Karnataka seeking opening of liquor shops in the State to prevent suicide by persons due to non-availability as liquor shops were ordered closed during the lockdown period.
Vinod G. Kulkarni from Hubballi decided to withdraw the petition after the court cautioned him of imposing heavy cost for abusing the process of e-filling of cases of extreme urgency enabled by the High Court for COVID-19 lockdown period as regular courts are closed for litigations. A special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice B.V. Nagarathna allowed withdrawal of petition after hearing Dr. Kulkarni through video-conferencing.
Is liquor more important than food in the present situation, the Bench orally asked Dr. Kulkarni, who had requested the court for ordering the government to open liquor shops for a few hours by making available limited quantity of liquor for sale during lockdown.
Dr. Kulkarni said that as a psychiatrist, he had noticed that at least 10 persons have reportedly committed suicide due to non-availability of liquor and hence had filed this petition.
However, the Bench told him that withdrawal symptoms of those used to consuming alcohol could be treated at clinics while pointing out that making food available for certain sections of society is important in the present situation.
Donates to CM’s Fund
The Bench gave him the option of withdrawing the petition or paying heavy cost for abusing the process of the court while asking how much money he is willing to pay to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Finally, Dr. Kulkarni decided to withdraw his petition and agreed to pay ₹10,000 to the CM’s Fund.
Following this, the Bench disposed of the petition terming it as withdrawn and directed him to donate ₹10,000 to the CM’s Relief Fund.
