My friend is being detained in the dc office for defending his uncle

Dear Client,

In Assam, alcohol laws are very strict. Even traditional local brews (“country liquor” like tari or pachwai) are regulated under the Assam Excise Act. The Act explicitly defines “liquor” to include palm wine and fermented brews
. Generally Indian law allows brewing small quantities at home for personal use, but not for sale
. Assam follows this closely: no one may manufacture, possess or bottle liquor for sale without a licence. For example, the Assam Excise Act punishes anyone who bottles liquor (other than certain palm wines) for purpose of sale
.

It is likely your uncle was detained because law enforcement had reason to believe he violated the law by holding an unlawful amount of wine used for selling. In Assam there are provisions that allow for some personal/ritual use of an excessive quantity of wine (usually only a limited amount, a few litres) but anything above the maximum allowable for this purpose and/or any evidence of commercial activity will violate Assam law. Even if your uncle's position is that the wine was only for the ritual use, that will not relieve his violation of law in regards to possession of more than allowed for personal use or any evidence of commercial activity. He may need to explain/prove it was strictly for personal use. If charged, he should check exactly under what provision (e.g. unauthorised possession or manufacture). Often the remedy is to show that quantity was within permissible limit and that no unlicensed sale took place.

In summary, Assam’s excise laws ban unlicensed sale or excess stock of local liquor
. Home brewing for personal ceremonies is culturally common, but still comes under the law. If your uncle truly only had a small home batch, he should clarify that and point out the lack of sale. Otherwise, the police are enforcing the excise prohibition the key question is whether his possession exceeded what’s allowed for home consumption. 
I hope this helps and if you have any further issues, do not hesitate to contact us.