V. RAVICHANDRAN S/O.VAIYAPURI PRESIDENT, KALINGAPATTI VILLAGE PANCHAYAT TIRUNELVELI DISTRICT TIRUNELVELI Vs. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, TIRUNELVELI DISTRICT, TIRUNELVELI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, at the time, when he filed the present writ petition, was the President of a Village President known as Kalingapatti Village Panchayat, Tirunelveli District, Tirunelveli. According to him, the said Village consists of people belonging to different communities and drawn from different walks of life. It is alleged that in the year 2002, there was a proposal by the Government to establish a liquor vending shop in Kalingapatti Village. It was not to the liking of the people of the said Village. The people felt that establishing a liquor vending shop in the said village may lead to disharmony among the people. Therefore, the Panchayat passed a unanimous resolution in the year 2002 requesting the Government not to establish any liquor vending shop within the Panchayat limits of the said village. Ignoring the said resolution, the Government established a liquor vending shop on 28.11.2003 in the Village in the building owned by the Cooperative Milk Society. Another resolution was passed thereafter to immediately shift the liquor vending shop from the said place, because it was causing lot of nuisance to the people of the village. But, it was not immediately closed. But on 17.12.2009, the shop was, however, shifted from the said place and located in the present place, which is in the midst of the village and just by the side of the State Highway Road. The shop was functioning from 17.12.2009 in the said place.

(2.) According to the counter filed by the 1st respondent, it is crystal clear that during the said period, the average sale of liquor from the said shop was around Rs.90,000.00. Thus, the shop was running very profitably. While so, the villagers again agitated. It is stated that the village headed by the brother of the petitioner, who himself is the leader of a Regional political party, staged a peaceful agitation before the said shop. It is alleged that the petitioner also participated in the said agitation, which happened on 01.08.2015 and 02.08.2015. Because of the said agitation indulged in by the villagers in a huge crowd, the respondents immediately closed the shop thereby, suspending the sale of liquor in the said shop. However, this was not done on any order either of the 2nd respondent or of the first respondent. The fact remains that from 02.08.2015, the shop has not been opened and there has been no sale of liquor.

(3.) It is brought to our notice that on 04.08.2015, the Panchayat passed another unanimous resolution requesting the respondents to close the said shop forthwith, because it has caused lot of hindrance for the school going children, for the devotees who come in large numbers to the Temple and the common man and the poor of the village. The said resolution was not taken note of seriously by the respondents. Therefore, the petitioner filed W.P.(MD) No.14059/2015 before this Court. A Division Bench of this Court by order dated 13.08.2015, disposed of the said writ petition with a direction to the District Collector to consider the resolution of the Panchayat, to hold appropriate enquiry and to take a decision, whether to shift the shop from the existing place or not. This Court directed that while doing the same, the District Collector, shall consider the provisions of Tamil Nadu Liquor Retail vending (in Shops and Bars) Rules 2003 issued under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act.