India: Supreme Court directs liquor companies to move their stocks out of Bihar by July 31
By Amit Anand Choudhary, TNN
May 29, 2017
NEW DELHI: In a big relief to liquor companies which are holding their stocks worth more than Rs 200 crore in Bihar, the Supreme Court on Monday granted them two months more time to transport liquor out of the state and directed them to dispose of their stocks by July 31.
The apex court had earlier fixed a deadline of May 31 for the companies to dispose off their stocks, but they failed to meet the deadline and pleaded a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Deepak Gupta to grant them more time.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverages Companies, contended that it was not possible even to destroy the existing stocks by the end of this month and the liquor companies might face prosecution by the state government for holding the stocks.
Seeking more time for transporting the stocks out of state, the confederation said in its petition that delay in disposing off stocks was beyond its control as clearances were required from various agencies. It said that United Spirit Limited was holding a stock of over Rs 100 crore in the state and worth of stocks held by Pernod Ricard and Allied Blenders Distillers were around Rs 55 crore and Rs 37 crore respectively.
“For reasons beyond their control, they will not be able to remove a majority of their stocks from Bihar. The proposed destination states, where the liquor was to be exported, are taking long time to issue import permit and the companies have to obtain export permit from Bihar also. The process is taking time and the liquor stocks cannot be taken out of state till the companies get all clearances,” the petition said.
The state government, however, opposed his plea and told the bench that no further time should be given to them. Advocate Keshav Mohan, appearing for Bihar government, said that holding of existing stock could lead to illegal trade of liquor in the state and would create law and order problem.
The bench, however, was not convinced with his plea and raised question on how could there be illegal trade of liquor when the existing stocks were in the custody of the state government.
Constitutional validity of Bihar government’s decision to ban consumption and sale of liquor in the state is pending in the Supreme Court. The Patna High Court had on September 30 last year quashed April 5 notification of the state government banning consumption and sale of alcohol. The state government had challenged High Court verdict in SC, which had then stayed the judgement.
In its notification, the government had notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 to ensure that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well spiced and domestic liquor, continued in the state.