# LAKSHMI NARAIN AND OTHERS v. DISTRICT EXCISE OFFICER, FATEHPUR & ORS

- **Citation:** [1979] 1 S.C.R. 161
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1978-08-16
- **Bench:** V. R. Krishna Iyer, D. A. Desai, 0. CHINNAPl'A REDDY
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/lakshmi-narain-and-others-v-district-excise-officer-fatehpur-ors-7568
- **Pages:** 2

## Headnote

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 participati1u~ 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.
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
2. The licences were awarded at public auction and tho conditions regarding
closure of business on certain days were prirtted in the auction notice. Wilh
full knowledge of these restrictions which the petitioners considered reasonable
when they participaited in the bids, they took the licences. They cannot assail
the :-;arnc in the writ petitions. [162F·GI
fFor appearance refer to pages 125-126).
c
D
E

## Text

•
•
161
LAKSHMI NARAIN AND OTHERS
A
v.
DISTRICT EXCISE OFFICER, FATEHPUR & ORS .
August 16, 1978
(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 participati1u~ 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.
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
2. The licences were awarded at public auction and tho conditions regarding
closure of business on certain days were prirtted in the auction notice. Wilh
full knowledge of these restrictions which the petitioners considered reasonable
when they participaited in the bids, they took the licences. They cannot assail
the :-;arnc in the writ petitions. [162F·GI
fFor appearance refer to pages 125-126).
c
D
E
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
F
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 diffeG
rent 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
H
month the petitioners, who are licensees, have come up to this Court
challenging its vires.
Rule 13 B reads thus :
A
B
c
D
E
F
G
•
162
SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[ 1979) 1 s.c.R.
"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.
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
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
of such foreign tourists as may hold a valid permit under the
All India liquor permit scheme of the Government of India."
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
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
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
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.