“15....In the instant case, the State has permitted wholesale trading of liquor. When the State has permitted such trading of liquor, the question is – can it be done arbitrarily? Law is well settled that the exercise of statutory discretion must be based on reasonable grounds and cannot lapse into the arbitrariness. It is true that no citizen has a legal right to claim a license as a matter of right, they cannot enter into a relationship by arbitrarily charging any person they like or discriminate between the persons similarly circumscribed. The State cannot escape the rigour of Article 14, in the sense that it cannot act arbitrarily. In the instant case, although the petitioners have not pointed out the name of the company, against whom they are being discriminated, as pointed out by learned Senior Counsel for respondent nos. 1 to 3, nevertheless, the fact remains that the sales of the petitioners had drastically dropped despite there being no consumption or supply related orders. Retailers are also facing grave hardship as they are not in a position to cater to the consumer demands, resulting in significant drop in sales. The respondent no. 1, it is alleged, has acted in a completely non-transparent manner, which, in turn, is to the detriment of the suppliers like petitioners and others. The Uttarakhand Agricultural Produce Marketing Board, as a matter of policy, will procure all brands in each FL2 and will authorise GMVN and KMVN to operate Sub-FL2 in all districts of Garhwal and Kumaon Divisions. As per policy, SubFL2’s opened in each district will ensure the availability of all brands of
