Cachar, Sribhumi withdraw Diwali dry-day orders a day after issuing them

Liquor outlets in Assam's Cachar and Sribhumi districts can open as usual for Diwali and Kali Puja after both district administrations withdrew orders they had issued only a day earlier to keep them shut on November 8 and 9.

In Cachar, District Magistrate Rahul Kumar Gupta had ordered on November 7 that all liquor and excise establishments stay closed for the two days, using powers under Section 52(1) of the Assam Excise Act, 2000. A fresh order issued before noon on Sunday, November 8, cancelled that direction with immediate effect, Barak Bulletin reported. The new notification, issued from the district commissioner's office in Silchar, said it had been issued in the public interest.

What the first order covered

The original closure order was wide. It covered manufacturing units for Indian Made Foreign Liquor and country spirit, wholesale warehouses, and all retail "on" and "off" outlets across Cachar. It also barred the transport, possession, sale and consumption of intoxicants in public places over the two days.

Under the revised order, all licensed premises in the district can work on November 8 and 9 according to their normal licence conditions and the existing Assam excise laws and rules. The order was withdrawn at the start of the first of the two planned dry days.

Sribhumi follows

Neighbouring Sribhumi district, formerly Karimganj, has also withdrawn a similar order that would have shut liquor outlets on the same two days for Deepawali and Kali Puja, according to the report. Licensed establishments there can also open as usual.

Neither administration gave a detailed reason for the change beyond the public-interest wording, and there was no official explanation of why the orders were issued and then reversed so quickly. Dry-day notices around major festivals are issued at the discretion of district magistrates in Assam, and the rules vary from district to district and year to year.

Diwali and Kali Puja are among the biggest festivals in the Barak Valley, where Kali Puja is celebrated on a large scale with community pandals in Silchar and Karimganj towns. The reversal means shops in both districts will follow their normal licensed hours through the two festival days.