In force · As amended up to 2026-08
CHAPTER XII
SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS AND INTOXICATING DRUGS
285. Unauthorised sale of spirituous liquor or intoxicating drug. —If within a cantonment, or within such limit sad joining a cantonment as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, define, any person not subject to Army, Navy or Air Force law, or any person subject to Army, Navy or Air Force law, otherwise than as a military officer or a soldier knowingly barters, sells or
supplies, or offers or attempts to barter, sell or supply, any spirituous liquor or intoxicating drug to or for the use of any soldier or soldier's wife or minor child without the written permission of the Officer Commanding the station, or of some person authorised by the Officer Commanding the station, to grant such permission, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with both.
— 286. [Unauthorised possession of spirituous liquor.] Omitted by the Jan Vishwas ( Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 ( 18 of 2023 ), s. 2 and Schedule (w.e.f. 2-11-2023) .
1[287. Arrest of persons, seizure and confiscation of things for offences under section 285. — (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), any police officer or excise officer may, without an order from a Judicial Magistrate, and without a warrant, arrest any person who commits an offence under section 285 and may seize and detain any spirituous liquor or intoxicating drug in respect of which an offence under section 285 has been committed and any vessels or coverings in which the liquor or drug is contained.
(2) Where a person accused of an offence under section 285 has been previously convicted of an offence under that section, an officer in charge of a police station may, with the written permission of a Judicial Magistrate, seize and detain any spirituous liquor or intoxicating drug within the cantonment or within any limits defined under that section which, at the time of the alleged commission of the subsequent offence, belonged to, or was in the possession of, such person.
(3) The court convicting a person of an offence under section 285 may order the confiscation of the whole or any part of anything seized under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2).
(4) Subject to the provisions of Chapter XXXIV of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974) anything, seized under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) and not confiscated under sub-section (3) shall be restored to the person from whom it was taken.]
Source: India Code