Country Spirit Liquor Retail Traders Association and Anr v. The State of Assam and Anr

ORDER

13.02.2024

¶1Heard Mr. J. Laskar, learned counsel for the petitioners and Mr. R.R. Gogoi, learned counsel for the respondents.

¶2The petitioner No.1 is a registered Association whose members are having licence for retail sale of country liquor. The petitioner No. 2 is the Secretary of the petitioner No.1 Association. The petitioners have approached this Court by way of this writ petition, praying for a direction to be issued to the respondent authorities, directing them to grant IMFL off licences to the members of the petitioner No.1 Association in view of Rule 594(5) of the Assam Excise Rules, 2016, allowing all existing IMFL off licence holders to apply for country spirit retail licences.

¶3The petitioners' counsel submits that as IMFL licence holders are allowed to apply for country liquor licence in terms of Rule 594(5) of the Assam Excise Rules, 2016, the petitioners should also be allowed to apply for IMFL licences.

¶4The petitioners' counsel further submits that the petitioners have submitted applications before the respondent authorities, for grant of IMFL Off Licence and in pursuance to the same, the Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam, Excise Department had written a letter to the Commissioner of Excise, Assam vide letter No. Ex.220/2022/4 dated 30.05.2022, requesting him to submit a report on the feasibility of the demand raised by the petitioners. Page No.# 3/4

¶5The petitioners' counsel submits that no report has been made on the feasibility of the demands raised by the petitioners by the respondent No.2 till date. He accordingly submits that a direction should be issued to the respondent No.2 to submit a report on the feasibility of the demands raised by the petitioners in terms of the letter dated 30.05.2022.

¶6Mr. R.R. Gogoi, learned counsel for the respondents submits that he has got no objection to the prayer made by the petitioners' counsel.

¶7Rule 594(5) of the Assam Excise Rules, 2016 states as follows:-"594. Grant of licenses:-

(5) All existing IMFL manufactories, IMFL wholesale warehouses and IMFL and Country spirit retail sale licensees (mahals) having a valid licence, shall be eligible to apply for Country Spirit manufactory, wholesale and retail licence respectively in terms of these Rules."

¶8In view of the consent of the parties, the Commissioner of Excise, Assam (respondent No.2) is directed to submit a report on the feasibility of the demands raised by the petitioners for grant of IMFL off licences to country liquor licence holders. The feasibility report should be submitted by the respondent No.2 to the Joint Secretary to the Government of Assam, Excise Department, within a period of 1(one) month from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. The respondent No.2 should also send a copy of the report to the petitioners and take a decision on the petitioners' representation. The entire exercise should be concluded within a period of 2(two) months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order. Page No.# 4/4

¶9The writ petition is accordingly disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/4 GAHC010199092023 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/5254/2023o COUNTRYoSPIRIToLIQUORoRETAILoTRADERSoASSOCIATIONoANDoANRo (AoREGISTEREDoASSOCIATIONoREGISTEREDoUNDERoTHEoSOCIETYo REGISTRATIONoACT),oMARKEToCOMPLEX,oDIBRUGARHoMUNICIPALITYo BOARD,oNALIAPOOLoBAZAR,oZONE-B,oGABHARUPATHAR,oP.O.oANDoDIST.o DIBRUGARH,oASSAM 2:oSISHUoRAMoHIRA oTHEoSECRETARYoOFoCOUNTRYoSPIRIToLIQUORoRETAILoTRADERSo ASSOCIATION oS/O-oLATEoHEMoKANTAoHIRA oR/O-oBANIPURoBYEoLANEo5D oDIST.oDIBRUGARH oASSAo VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDoANRo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEoGOVT.o OFoASSAM,oEXCISEoDEPARTMENT,oDISPUR,oGUWAHATI-6. 2:THEoCOMMISSIONERoOFoEXCISE oASSAM oHOUSEFEDoCOMPLEX oDISPUR oGHY-6o AdvocateoforotheoPetitionerooooo:oMR.oJoLASKARo AdvocateoforotheoRespondento:oSC,oEXCISEoDEPTT.oo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Page No.# 2/4 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MICHAEL ZOTHANKHUMA