ASHOK LENKA Vs. RISHI DIKSHIT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) LEAVE granted.

(2.) THE Appellants are before us in the second round. THEy, except the State of Chhattisgarh, were granted excise licences. Grant of such licences indisputably is governed by the Chhattisgarh Excise Act, 1915 (for short "the Act"). On or about 15-3-2002, the State Government under 'the Act' made rules known as Chhattisgarh Excise Settlement of Licences for Retail Sale of Country/Foreign Liquor Rules, 2002 (for short "the Rules").

(3.) BEFORE the High Court, the questions raised by the parties inter alia were : (i) The permanent addresses of the persons in whose favour licences were granted were not properly verified. (ii) The temporary addresses given by them were wrong and in that view of the matter scrutiny of their applications could not be carried out. (iii) Provisions of Rule 9(d)(iii) in terms whereof criminal antecedents not only of the applicants but also of their family members were required to be verified, had not been complied with. According to the State, however, there was no necessity to verify the criminal background of the family members of the licensees as a mere error had crept in in the English version of the notification which stood clarified by issuing another notification dated 5-7-2005.