On Thursday, 13.82 lakh litre liquor worth Rs 48.14 crore was sold in the state of Maharashtra, except in the dry districts of Gadchiroli, Wardha and Chandrapur, said that State Excise Commissionerate.
State Excise Commissionerate
Meanwhile, Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday criticised the Maharashtra government for allowing liquor shops to re-open during the lockdown, and called the decision as "insensible and inappropriate".
In a statement, Hazare said, "Day by day, the COVID-19 infection is increasing in the country and unfortunately Maharashtra is topping the list. It has been noticed that due to lockdown, it was possible to contain the spread of the virus to some extent."
"People should not be allowed to go out except for buying essential things. However, the state government allowed the liquor shops to remain open and as a result, long queues outside these outlets were observed," he said.
Earlier, the Maharashtra Wine Merchants Association filed a petition in the Bombay High Court on Thursday seeking to quash the order restricting the sale of alcohol in Nagpur.
"Even though the number of COVID-19 cases are much higher in cities like Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad than Nagpur, liquor shops are being permitted to remain open in those cities," the plea said.
The Nagpur civic body, had on May 3, issued a notification restricting the sale of liquor within the city.
The petition is likely to be taken up for hearing on Friday.
(With PTI inputs)
