Licensees challenged Rule 13B of the U.P. Excise Rules forbidding liquor sale on Tuesdays and the first of each month as unconstitutional under Article 32. The Supreme Court, holding the rule in pari materia with the Punjab provision upheld earlier, dismissed the petitions with costs.
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161
A
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LAKSHMI NARAIN AND OTHERS
v.
DISTRICT EXCISE OFFICER, FATEHPUR & ORS .
August 16, 1978
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(V. R. KRISHNA IYER, D. A. DESAI AND 0. CHINNAPl'A REDDY, JJ.] B U.11. Excise Act-Section 4l(e)(v) & (J.P. Excise Rules-Rule 138-Valid and riot u11coustitutio11al.
Co11sit11tio11 of India 1950-Article 32-Petition under-Petitioners partici- pati1u~ in an auction with full knowledge of conditions if could object to condition. Section 41(e) (v) of the U.P. Excise Act cn1powered the Excise Commissioner to make rules fixing the days and hours during which licensed premises n1ay be kept open or closed.
c
The petitioners who were licensees in sale of liquor challenged the validity of the rule.
Dismissing the writ petitions, HELD~ 1. As the provisions of Rule 13B of the U.P. Excise Rules arc in parl materia with Rule 37 of the Punjab Liquor Licence•Rules 1'56, the decision in P. N. Kaushal v. Union of India tic. [1979] I S.C.R. 121 is applicable. [161 GJ
D
E
fFor appearance refer to pages 125-126).
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
KRISHNA IYER, J. We have today disposed of a batch of writ petitions arising under the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 (Annexure A). There !he petitioner had challenged Sec. 59(f)(v) and rule 37 as unconstitutional. In the present batch of writ petitions the contention is identical except that the enactment and rule are formally different but in pari materia. Sec. 41 (e) (v) of the U.P. Excise Act empowers the Excise Commissioner to make rules fixing the days and hours during which licensed premises may be kept opened or closed. Rule 13 B is one such rule which forbids sale of liquor "on all Tuesdays as well as the first day of every month". Aggrieved by rule 13 B (as amended), because it prohibits liquor trade on the 1st of every month the petitioners, who are licensees, have come up to this Court challenging its vires. Rule 13 B reads thus :
F
G
H
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS [ 1979) 1 s.c.R.
162
A
"l 3B. AU excise shops (including foreign liquor country spirit, home drugs, opium( tari and outstill shops) shall not be kept open on Independence day (August 15) Mahatma Gandhi Birthday (October 2) and on the day of Mahatma Gandhi's tragic death (January 30) every year and also on all Tuesdays as well as on the first day of every month.
B
Provided that if the first day of the month happen to be a public holiday, the day next following of that month shall be the day on which the excise shops shall not be kept open. Provided further Excise Commissioner, may in consultation c with the CoUector of the District concerned, waive the condition of not keeping an exercise shop open on Tuesday or the first day of the month or the day next foUowing of that month, as the case may be, for such specified period as he may think fit, in the case of hotels possessing a licence in Form F.L. 6 for the sale of foreign liquor for the brnefit D of such foreign tourists as may hold a valid permit under the All India liquor permit scheme of the Government of India."
c
The source of the rule-making power is Sec. 41 ( e )( v) which hardly needs reproduction.
It is easy to see that the provisions in the Punjab Law, challenged E nnsuccessfully before us, and these U.P. provisions are virtually the same. The contentions put forward by counsel for the petitioners and the submissions by the Solicitor General and Shri 0. P. Rana in reply are also identical with what we have heard and considered in the Punjab cases. Indeed, the U.P. cases, from the point of view of the State, are stronger because the licences were awarded at public auctions F and all the conditions now objected to in these writ petitions regarding closure of business on certain days are printed in the the auction notice. With full knowledge of these restrictions, which they considered reasonable when they participated in the bids (and which we consider reasonable for reasons we have given in the Punjab cases), they took the licences. So their present challenge must meet with its Waterloo G in the decision of this Court in the Punjab Cases. Without more ado, we dismiss the Writ Petitions with costs (one hearing fee).
N.V.K.
Petitions dismissed.
1 issue framed by the court
Whether Rule 13B of the U.P. Excise Rules, requiring closure of excise shops on Tuesdays and the first day of every month, is unconstitutional.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
P. N. Kaushal v. Union of India & Ors.Followed
[1979] I S.C.R. 121 · Who else cites this
3 provisions across 3 enactments
Lakshmi Narain and Others
District Excise Officer, Fatehpur
V. R. Krishna Iyer
D. A. Desai
O. Chinnappa Reddy
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
