The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted an interim stay on a competition between a state-run liquor retailer and a distillery company inviting suggestions from the public for the name and logo of a brandy product.
The Kerala High Court granted an interim stay on the Bevco brand naming contestTwo Public Interest Litigation (PILs) challenged the competition on the grounds that it promotes alcohol consumption and violates the provisions of the Kerala Abkari Act. A petitioner behind the PIL claimed that Malabar Distilleries Limited had even announced a prize for the winner of the competition.
However, the Kerala State Beverage Corporation (Bevco) in a counter filed in the High Court has said that it has not issued any notification or press release for such competition. The petitioner sought to know whether the BEVCO board of directors had sanctioned the competition.
“We stay all further proceedings in the contest declared by respondent Nos. 3 and 4 pending final disposal of the writ petition as we are prima facie satisfied that there is an arguable case of merit of the petitioner… and the nature of the advertisement is, in fact, soliciting the consumption of liquor and making a measure towards the product,” making available to the market the Chief Justice of Sen Justice and Sen Justice. Shyam Kumar VM.
