Conviction for stocking liquor without permit upheld with jail cut to six months in Rajpura
Police raided a house store in Rajpura on a tip of unlicensed sale and said 15 cartons of First Choice liquor were found. The trial court in 2019 imposed three years plus Rs 1 lakh fine, affirmed on appeal in 2025. The High Court on 1 January 2026 kept the conviction but cut jail to six months.
This page records what the cited court records say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →Conviction stands with reduced six-month sentence; revision dismissed as modified.
What happened
The High Court recorded the case as FIR No.97 dated 13.05.2014 at Police Station City Rajpura under Section 61(1)(a) of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914.
Police said a patrol acting on a tip raided the house store and found 15 boxes of liquor make First Choice, took samples, sealed bottles and jars, and sent the accused for trial.
The High Court noted the Judicial Magistrate at Rajpura convicted on 05.01.2019 with three years plus Rs 1 lakh fine, and the Additional Sessions Judge at Patiala dismissed the appeal on 22.09.2025.
The High Court on 01.01.2026 kept the concurrent findings of guilt but reduced jail to six months rigorous imprisonment, keeping the fine and default term the same.
What the record says
“15 boxes of liquor make First Choice were found lying in the store of said house. reduced to six months' rigorous imprisonment instead of three years”
CRR No.2671 of 2025, order pronounced 01.01.2026 — read the full text
No complaining victim
The act was possessing and selling ordinary liquor without a permit, with no allegation of spurious or poisonous liquor, hooch deaths or violence.
What we could not confirm
Chemical report on liquor quality was not detailed on the page; no spurious-liquor allegation appears.