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Presence of Liquor Bottles and staying of unmarried couple in same hotel room is not an offence and is not a valid ground for sealing the hotel-Madras High Court
In this case, the tahsildar of a district of Coimbatore raided a service apartment and thereby sealed that apartment. They sealed the apartment merely on basis that an unmarried couple was staying in the apartment and some liquor bottles were also found in the premises. Subsequently, a petition was filed in the high court of madras against such an arbitrary act of the police and tahsildar of the district. The authorities sealed the apartment by believing in the several reports that were published in the print media and on the belief of the community that believed that the owner of the apartment is not a good man as he is allowing unmarried couples to stay together. Even several complains were also made by the people who were residing in those apartments
Justice Ramesh of the Madras High Court held that the act of sealing the apartment by the authorities is unlawful because staying of an unmarried couple in a hotel room is not an offense under any law in India. The court also held that authorities cannot seal the apartment on the basis that some liquor bottles were found there and the owner had no license to sell liquor. The court said that it is quite evident that the apartment owner was not selling or providing liquor to the people who were staying in his apartment, the people carried liquor on their own and according to the rules laid down in Tamil Nadu (possession for personal consumption) Rules 1996 it is completely legal to carry certain quantity of alcohol in Tamil Nadu.
So, the act of Tahsildar’s office was held completely unlawful by the high court of madras on both the grounds. Firstly, on the grounds of staying of an unmarried couple in the apartment and secondly on the ground of founding liquor bottles in the apartment.
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