PARADISE BAR Vs. GOVT OF A P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this group of writ petitions, the Licensees under the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act read with the Andhra Pradesh Foreign Liquor and lndiaLiquor Rules, 1970 call in question the Notification of the Government of Andhra Pradesh amending the Schedule to the Andhra Pradesh Foreign Liquor and Indian Liquor Rules, 1970 by which the licence fee payable for F.L. 15, F.L. 16, F.L. 17, F.L. 18, F.L 19, F.L. 20, F.L. 21, F.L 22, F.L. 23. and F.L. 24 licences was enhanced and varying enhanced fee was fixed on the basis of population with effect from 1-10-78. That notification reads as under : "Notification: In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 72 read with Sections 15 and 28 of the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act. 1968 (Act 17 of 1968), the Governor of Andhra Pradesh hereby makes the following amendments to the Andhra Pradesh Foreign Liquor and Indian Liquor Rules, 1970 the draft of the same having been previously published as required under sub-section (1) of Section 72, of the said Act.

(2.) The amendments hereby made shall come into force with effect on and from the 1st October, 1978. AMENDMENTS In the said rules: - (i) for the existing Schedule, the following Schedule shall be substituted, namely:- <FRM>JUDGEMENT_13_APLJ1_1979Html1.htm</FRM> Note : Population of a place should be reckoned with reference to the last census". (ii) in Form F.L. 17 in the first paragraph for the figure and words "Rs. 4,500/- (Rupees four thousand five hundred only)", the words "Rs..........(Rupees......only)"shall be substituted: (iii) in Form F.L. 18 in the first paragraph for the figure and words "Rs. 2,700/- (Rupees two thousand seven hundred only)" the words "Rs......(Rupees.........only) shall be substituted. (iv)t in Form F.L. 19, in the first paragraph for the figure and words"Rs. 150. (Rupees one hundred and fifty only) the words "Rs. (Rupees.........only) shall be substituted. (v) in Form F.L. 20, in the first paragraph for the figure, and word Rs. 540/- (Rupees five hundred and forty)" the words Rs... (Rupees......only) shall be substituted. (vi) In Form F.L. 21 in the first paragraph for the figure and words Rs. 300/- (Rupees three hundred only) the words Rs......... (Rupees .........only) shall be substituted. (vii) in Form F.L. 22, in the first paragraph for the figure and words Rs.75/- (Rupees seventy five only) the words Rs............... (Rupees .........only) shall be substituted. (viii) in Form F.L. 23, in the first paragraph for the figure and words Rs. 6,000/- (Rupees six thousand only) the words Rs...... (Rupees............only) shall be substituted; and (ix) in Form F.L. 24 in the first paragraph for the figure and words Rs. 4,500/- (Rupees four thousand and five hundred only) the words Rs.......... (Rupees .........only) shall be substituted. 2. In most cases the licence fee was enhanced by 300%. No distinction was made in this behalf whether it was a case of a renewal of the existing licence or the grant of fresh licence. Licence fee payable on licenee granted by the Excise Superintendent under Rule 26 read with S. 15 (2) (a) of the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act, 1968 (hereinafter referred to as the "Act") was less than the licence fee payable on licences granted by the Deputy Commissioner of Excise under Rule 26 read with S, 15 (2) (b) of the Act, and the licence fee payable on licences issued by the Commissioner of Excise under Rule 26 read with S. 15 (2) (c) of the Act was the highest.

(3.) To appreciate the common contentions raised in this batch of writ petitions, it is sufficient to notice the facts in W.P. No. 4246/78. The petitioners therein are wholesale-cum-retail dealers in Indian Liquor, Foreign Liquor and Beer etc., and they carry on business in the City of Hyderabad Visakhapatnam and other places. They hold F.L. 15, F.L. 16, F.L. 23, and F.L. 24 licences to deal in Indain and Foreign Liquor issued by the Commissioner of Excise. These licences have to be renewed every Excise year, the Excise year commencing from 1st October and ending with 30th September. The licence fee payable upto the year 1975-76 was Rs. 6,000 per annum. For the year 1976-77 that was raised to Rs. 7,500/-. Now under the impugned Notification, the Licence fee for F.L. 15 and F.L. 23, licences when issued by the Excise Commissioner for carrying on business in a place with over three lakhs population is fixed at Rs. 24,000/- per annum and the licence fee for F.L. 16 licence is fixed at Rs. 30,000/- and for F.L. 24 licence, it is fixed at Rs. 18,000/-