VIJAY GARG Vs. STATE OF HARYANA AND ANOTHER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner seeks a writ of certiorari to quash and set-aside Ex-Distillery Price list of IMFL Brands issued by the State of Haryana in respect of three brands of the 2nd respondent M/s Pernod Ricard India (P) Ltd. Gurgaon. The petitioner has also sought an order directing respondent Nos.1 and 2 to stop the sale of what he alleges to be deceptive brands by the 2nd respondent a multi national company. The petitioner alleges this to be in violation of the policy framed under the provisions of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914. The petitioner further seeks a refund of the amounts charged allegedly in excess from him on the ground that the three brands do not find mention in the excise policy. Lastly, the petitioner seeks a writ directing the respondents to stop an on-going scam involving more than 100 crores annually.

(2.) Although it is highly doubtful that this writ is maintainable we will presume it is. The petitioner's rights are not even remotely affected even assuming his allegations are well founded. The petitioner's grievance briefly is that the 2nd respondent sold three of its brands at unfairly high prices and that the EDP in respect thereof had not even been fixed. Firstly, the EDP is fixed. Secondly, the petitioner is not even remotely affected as he is not bound to buy the 2nd respondent's products. Thirdly, though not bound to do so, the petitioner has been buying these products for two years. The real grievance, therefore, is obviously something else which we will refer to later.

(3.) Respondent No.2 produces various brands of Indian made foreign liquor, three of which are sold under the brand name 'Royal Stag Deluxe Whisky', 'Imperial Blue Superior Grain Whisky' and 'Blenders Pride Rare Premium Whisky', at the Ex Distillery Price (EDP) of Rs.1288/-, Rs.967/- and Rs.2706/- respectively. We will refer to them as the first three brands/products. There is no grievance regarding the pricing of these three brands.