'Legislative power vested in state to regulate industrial alcohol is complete': UP, WB in SC

Senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, told a nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that "liquor" has always been in the legislative sphere of the States and the Centre does not have any jurisdiction with regard to industrial alcohol.

New Delhi:In an unusual move, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal governments on Wednesday were on the same side in the Supreme Court, while stressing on the legislative power vested in the state government to regulate industrial alcohol is complete and beyond the central government’s jurisdiction.

Senior advocate Dinesh Dwivedi, appearing for the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, submitted before a nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that liquor has always been within the legislative sphere of state governments and the Centre does not have any jurisdiction in relation with the industrial alcohol.

Dwivedi cited that the Centre has not issued any order to regulate industrial alcohol as per Section 18G of the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. “Therefore, there cannot be a case of conflict or occupied field. The field is unoccupied and the states’ power to legislate to regulate industrial alcohol is untrammelled and complete,” he argued.

The bench also comprises justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, B V Nagarathna, J B Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, and Augustine George Masih, is examining the issue of overlapping powers of the Centre and states in production, manufacturing, supply and regulation of industrial alcohol.

Stressing the federal structure of the country, Dwivedi said states’ exclusive jurisdiction cannot be made dependent on parliamentary legislation. In 1990, the top court’s decision in the ‘Synthetic and Chemicals' case took away the states’ power in relation to industrial alcohol even under Entry 33 of the Concurrent List. The List provides for trade and commerce in production, supply and distribution of certain industrial products.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, also representing the UP government, said the decision in ‘Synthetics and Chemicals’ case renders the state incompetent to legislate on rectified spirit. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the TMC-ruled West Bengal, submitted that all liquids having alcohol qualify as intoxicating liquor and fall under Entry 8 of List II of the Seventh Schedule, which confers on states exclusive jurisdiction to control and regulate all kinds of spirits produced from molasses.

The apex court will continue to hear the matter tomorrow. The matter was referred to a nine-judge bench in 2010 after a seven-judge bench ruled in 1997 that the Centre would have regulatory power over the production of industrial alcohol.

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