‘State Govt possesses right of complete control over all aspects of intoxicants’
The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday upheld a provision under the State Excise law by which the Government was empowered to impose penalty against the liquor dealers who default in paying the licence fee in time.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice R Banumathi and Justice Chandrashekhar, while dismissing a bunch of 27 petitions said that the State has the legislative competence to make rules for payment of interest for the period of delay in deposit of one twelfth of annual licence fee.
“Rule 15 of the Jharkhand Excise (Settlement of licence For Retail Sale of Country/Spiced Country liquor) Rules, 2009 is in conformity with the Bihar Excise Act, 1915 and there is no arbitrariness or unreasonableness,” the bench observed.
The foreign liquor dealers, mostly from Hazaribagh and Ramgarh, had moved the court for declaring the provision, which provides that if one twelfth of the annual fee fixed for a shop is not paid by the licensee by 20th day of every month, interest at rate of 5 percent per day of default will be calculated and realised, to be arbitrary, irrational, and ultra vires the provisions of the parent Act and also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Government had raised demand of over Rs 6 crore against the defaulting liquor dealers.
The court said that the rights in regard to liquor/intoxication pertain to the State and as such, it is open to the State Government to part with those rights for consideration. “The main object of parting with the privilege of sale of liquor is to augment revenue of the State. While doing so, it is always open to the State Government to lay down the manner of settlement and fix the criteria for payment of licence fees,” the bench said.
The bench said that dealing in intoxicant is not a trade or business within the meaning of Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution of India.” Trade in liquor has historically stood on a different footing from other trades. Restrictions which are not permissible with other trades are lawful and reasonable so far as the trade in liquor is concerned. That is why even prohibition of the trade in liquor is not only permissible but is also reasonable. The reasons are public morality, public interest and harmful and dangerous character of the liquor. The State possesses the right of complete control over all aspects of intoxicants, viz manufacture, collection, sale and consumption,” the bench observed.
“Since the terms and conditions were already accepted by the petitioners while taking settlement of different vends, there shall be no scope for them to question the validity of the conditions of settlement,” the judgment written by the Chief Justice said.