Chandigarh, Dec. 31 -- The UT excise and taxation department has intensified enforcement under the Excise Policy 2025-26, sealing five retail liquor vends and initiating breach proceedings against a bottling unit for violations of prescribed norms in the month of December. As part of a special enforcement drive launched this month, officials carried out inspections at all retail liquor vends across the city. During these checks, a liquor vend in Sector 22-C was sealed on December 18 after it was found violating excise norms. Subsequently, on December 21, two more vends located in Khuda Lahora and Dhanas were sealed for non-compliance with mandatory provisions related to the maintenance of the minimum retail sale price (MRSP), a clear violation of the Excise Policy. The crackdown continued on December 30, when enforcement teams inspected retail liquor vends in Sectors 42 and 61. Officials found both vends violating MRSP provisions, following which they were sealed. Sharing details of the action, excise and taxation commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, IAS, said the department has adopted sustained and comprehensive monitoring, inspection and enforcement measures to ensure strict adherence to the Excise Policy 2025-26 and the Punjab Excise Act, 1914. The objective, he said, is to maintain discipline in the excise sector, prevent revenue leakage and ensure fair trade practices. Apart from retail vends, the department has also stepped up monitoring of manufacturing and bottling units. As part of routine compliance verification, a surprise inspection was conducted on December 28 at bottling plants operating in Chandigarh. During the inspection of M/s Zannat Beverages Pvt Ltd, officials detected several discrepancies, following which breach proceedings have been initiated against the licensee under the relevant provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 and the rules framed thereunder....