MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently held that liquor consumption may be an individual choice of a person, but whether the shops cause nuisance or threat to the public should be looked into while granting licenses for selling liquor.
A bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman made the observations while allowing two PILs filed against the grant of FL2 license to a recreation club for selling liquor in Alanganallur panchayat union in Madurai in October last year.
The petitioners claimed that the panchayat union consists of 37 village panchayats and two town panchayats and has an approximate population of 1.3 lakh. Both Alanganallur and Palamedu, which are famous for the annual jallikattu events held in January, do not have any liquor shop to date, the petitioners claimed. Some of the villages in the Alanganallur panchayat union, namely, Thandalai, Pudupatti, and Mettupatti, have passed resolutions prohibiting the opening of TASMAC outlets in their villages.
However, the commissioner of the Prohibition and Excise Department has granted an FL2 license to a private individual to operate a recreation club in Thandalai village in violation of the rules and the cultural values of the union, the petitioners alleged and sought the court's intervention.
The judges observed that since private individuals are not granted a license to run liquor shops in Tamil Nadu, many individuals are registering recreation clubs under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. Later, they run liquor shops in the name of recreation clubs by obtaining an FL2 license, thereby causing inconvenience to the residents and road users of the locality, they added.
Further noting that there is no specific clause or objective in the by-laws, which was approved by the Registrar, for selling of liquor by obtaining an FL2 license, the judge said, "In the absence of any such clause in the by-laws, selling of liquor in the Recreation Clubs cannot be permitted and it is a violation of the by-laws."
As the licensing authority failed to consider the local needs, the public interest, and the resolution passed by the panchayat union, among others, the license granted is liable to be set aside, the judges held and allowed the petitions.