A. Edukondalu, convener of the Guntur-based G.V. Krishna Rao Memorial Trust, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking directions to the government to prohibit the sale of liquor during the lockdown.
He argued that the government allowed the liquor sale during the lockdown for increasing the revenue, and it was bound to affect the efforts being made to check the spread of COVID-19. If people were let out to buy alcohol on a large scale, without following social distancing, there was a risk of the disease spreading further, he argued.
The increase in the prices of liquor, which was claimed to discourage people, was showing little effect, he said.
The court should, therefore, prohibit the sale of liquor until the lockdown is lifted and sufficient number of tests conducted to prevent a major outbreak of the disease, the petitioner appealed.
The PIL may be admitted on May 7.
