- (1.) THIS order will also dispose of Civil Writ Petition No. 8337 of 1989, in which the petitioners have taken an additional ground that no deduction of tax at source can be made from L-14 licensees. For the purpose of the order, the facts are being initiated from CWP No. 7161 of 1989.
(2.) THE petitioners who are country liquor contractors and holding L-14 and L-13 licences under the Punjab Excise Act (1 of 1914), have challenged the application of Section 44ac and, consequently, Section 206c of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (for short "the Act"), claiming that, as a result of the proviso introduced with effect from April 1, 1989, they are not liable to be assessed as per the provisions of Section 44ac and to pay tax at source under Section 206c of the Act. The relief has been sought on two grounds : firstly, the country liquor is not obtained by them in auction and, secondly, the liquor is purchased and sold by them at a price fixed by the State Government. The wine contractors used to obtain L-14 licences in a public auction which is held annually generally in the month of March, as the highest bidder.
(3.) BEFORE coming to any conclusion, it will be worthwhile to bring on record that the country liquor contractors had also challenged the constitutional validity of the insertion of Section 44ac read with Section 206c of the Act by filing writ petitions in this court which were dismissed on August 2, 1989, and the constitutional validity of the above Sections was upheld in those petitions.;