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2017 (8) TMI 590 - HC - Indian LawsLicense for Retail Sale - Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) - the legality or otherwise of the action of the official respondents to cancel the temporary licenses and/or notice dated 14.12.2005 issued by the Excise Commissioner in his capacity as the Licensing Authority - Vend for the purpose of sale of IMFL - competent authority to grant license for opening Vend - how should the Excise Commissioner make selection when there were large number of applications for the limited number of vends? - Held that: - there have been numerous interim directions passed in the civil miscellaneous petitions moved by the petitioners from time to time whereby the official respondents have been directed to continue and/or renew the licenses issued in favour of the petitioners and to accept the requisite annual fee in lieu thereof from the petitioners. There is no dispute that by notice dated 25.06.2006 issued by the Excise Commissioner the licenses were essentially operable only for one year, i.e., for the year 2005-06 and with respect to 95 locations only identified by the Committee of officers constituted by the respondents in compliance of the directions of the Division Bench. Therefore, I think, it would be inconsequential to delve into the legality or otherwise of the impugned notices issued to the petitioners. Any discussion on the submissions made at the Bar would have only academic value. Furthermore, the temporary licenses in question were issued in favour of the petitioners in terms of the Excise Police promulgated in terms of Government, vide Order No. 99-F of 2003 dated 7.4.2003 read with Order No. 156-F of 2003 dated 22.7.2003. More than thirteen years have passed since then. The said policy recognized the need for restrictive and regulative trade in the liquor till the time it was considered appropriate to bring about a total prohibition. Since the matter has been pending in the Court since then and there had been an interim order operating in the matter, obviously, the Government and the official respondents have not been able to revise the liquor policy during these years. On the other hand, the petitioners, who were granted temporary licenses for four months which could be regularised to be operable, at best, for one year, have been continuing on such licenses for more than eleven years now on Court orders merely because of pendency of these petitions. The official respondents shall undertake and complete the requisite exercise by the end of the current financial year, i.e., 31.03.2017, and issue fresh licenses to the selectees for the year 2017-2018 operative with effect from 01.04.2017. In case the present vendees have not paid the annual fee and other dues for the current or any other previous year, he shall deposit the same with the Excise Department before closure of the present financial year. Petition allowed by way of remand.
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