Telangana HC reserves orders on plea seeking stay on liquor shops allotment

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court reserved orders on a plea seeking to stay the ongoing process of allotment of retail liquor A4 shops across the state.

The petition, filed by D Venkateshwar Rao and four others from Hyderabad, challenges the memo issued by the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise, Telangana, on October 18, extending the last date for submission of applications beyond the originally stipulated deadline.

‘Extending the application date intensified the competition’

During the hearing, Senior Counsel Avinash Desai, appearing for the petitioners, argued before the Single Bench, comprising Justice N Tukaramji, on Friday, that the extension violates Rule 12, Sub-Rule 5 of the Excise and Prohibition Rules.

He contended that accepting applications beyond the prescribed date had significantly intensified competition, thereby reducing the petitioners’ chances of securing allotment.

The Adilabad case

Citing Adilabad district as an example, Desai pointed out that while 391 applications were received until October 17, an additional 320 were filed on October 18 alone, bringing the total to 711.

He alleged that this surge directly benefited the government through increased non-refundable revenue collection of Rs 3 lakh per application.

The Government, having framed the rules, cannot violate its own provisions by extending deadlines, even if there was a bandh call on October 18, argued Desai, seeking a complete stay on the allotment process.

Only a minuscule increase, says State

Additional Advocate General Md Imran Khan, representing the state, opposed the plea, maintaining that the petitioners had only challenged the Commissioner’s memo and not the Gazette notifications issued in 34 districts.

He informed the bench that a total of 89,343 applications had been received by October 18, and only 5,793 more came in afterwards a “minuscule” increase, he said.

Addl. AG Khan urged the court not to stay the entire process, emphasising that it was a policy decision of the government.

“Even if the petition is allowed, only 5,793 applicants would be excluded, but staying the process would vitiate the entire exercise,” he argued.

After hearing both sides, Justice N Tukaramji reserved orders, stating that a decision would be delivered shortly.