LOVELY ENTERPRISES Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of a bunch of five petitions bearing CWP Nos. 4736, 19489, 4949, 4954 and 5382 of 2018, as learned counsel for the parties are agreed that the issue involved in all these petitions is identical. However, the facts are being extracted from CWP No.4736 of 2018.

(2.) Prayer in CWP No.4736 of 2018 filed under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India is for a direction to the respondents to refund or adjust the special licence fee and other fees wrongly demanding from the petitioner or its partners for the year 2016-17. Further direction has been sought to the respondents to allow the petitioner or its partners to participate in a lottery to be held for the year 2018-19 for grant of liquor licence.

(3.) A few facts relevant for the decision of the controversy involved as narrated in CWP No.4736 of 2018 may be noticed. The petitioner is engaged in the retail business of liquor holding the L-2/L-14A licence under the Licensing Group Zone-E, Model Town Group, Patiala for the year 2016-17. The petitioner started functioning of liquor vends from 1/4/2016 and paid the whole requisite licence fee to the authority. The licence fee amounting to Rs.6,33,02,772.00 was fixed for the licensing group as a whole, as per Excise Policy for the year 2016-17 and the annual quota of PML, IMFL and Beer was fixed. According to the petitioner, the Excise department, Punjab did not issue the liquor quota of PML to it till 12/4/2016 and the same was made available from 13/4/2016. The liquor quota of IMFL and Beer was not issued till 6/4/2016 and the same was made available from 7/4/2016. Accordingly, it was liable for the refund of the amount wrongly collected from it by the department. As per calculation made in the representation, the petitioner asserts that it was entitled of refund of Rs.3,11,01,965.00. According to the summons issued to the petitioner by the department, the amount due was Rs.1,05,028,328.00 including interest. The petitioner approached the department so many times to settle the dispute but the department failed to consider the claim of the petitioner. Some of the liquor licensees of the State of Punjab filed CWP No.102 of 2017 in this Court for issuance of direction to the respondent to refund/adjust the licence fee and other fees on account of liquor not having been supplied to them within time. The said writ petition was dismissed vide order dtd. 27/2/2017, Annexure P.3 with liberty to the petitioners to avail of any alternative remedy including resorting to Clause 3.19 of Punjab Excise Manual for the year 2016-17. Accordingly, the petitioner filed representation before the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab who dismissed the same vide order dtd. 26/12/2017 Annexure P.4 on the ground of lack of jurisdiction. Thereafter, the Excise and Taxation Commissioner issued summons to the petitioner for recovery of the amount due for special licence fee and other additional and extra fee alongwith interest. Hence the instant petitions by the petitioners.