RAKESH KUMAR GARG,J - (1.) IN the present writ petition, the petitioner M/s Godara Wines, which is a partnership firm, has prayed for issuance of a Writ in the nature of Certiorari for quashing the allotment of L-1 license allotted by the respondent-State in favour of private respondents i.e. respondents No. 4 to 7 for the District Hisar in pursuance of the Excise Policy for the year 2008-09 of the Government of Haryana and Public Notice (Annexure P-2) inviting applications for the allotment of wholesale licenses of IMFL (L-1) for the general public, with a further prayer for issuance of a direction to respondents No. l to 3 to consider the case of the petitioner-firm and allot L-1 license for the District Hisar.
(2.) THE brief facts of the case are that the State of Haryana issued Excise Policy for the year 2008-09 for allotment of retail and wholesale licenses for the sale of IMFL. The relevant part of the said policy is reproduced hereunder : 4.14. L-1 License, whole sale of IMFL The wholesale outlets of IMFL (L-1) shall be granted, on payment of application fee of Rs. 5,000/- and security of Rs. 5 lacs and annual license fee of Rs. 25 lacs. The number of such licenses in a district shall be 4 per district in all districts of the State of Haryana except Gurgaon and Faridabad, where it will be 8 each. The license may preferably be granted on the basis of amount of revenue contributed in terms of L-2 license fee of the District for the year. A cut off date shall be prescribed and published/pronounced well in time for the purpose of determining the revenue contribution. The applicant shall not be defaulter of any dues under the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, Haryana General Sales Tax Act, 1973, CST Act, 1956, Haryana Value Added Tax Act, 2003, Haryana Local Area Development Tax Act, 2000. The applicant shall furnish authorization certificates from at lease three distilleries and breweries for selling their produces in wholesale. The applicant shall furnish proof of ownership, lease, rental of the premises at which the wholesale outlet of IMFL (L-1) is proposed to be opened. The applicant shall furnish no objection certificates from the municipal committee, chief medical officer, fire officer of the respective district. The applicant shall deposit an annual license fee of Rs. 25 lakhs by means of bank draft in favour of the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Excise) of the respective district and shall furnish the requisite proof along with the application. The supplies to the retail outlets of IMFL (L-2) shall be made from the wholesale outlet of IMFL (L-1) located in the District on permits/passes issued by the respective Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioners (Excise) of the district. The stock of IMFL at the stage of L-1 shall be duty paid. The wholesale outlets of IMFL (L-1) shall receive supplies of liquor from the L-1B and L-1B1 licenses and other licenses as provided under other provisions of the law. The wholesale outlets of IMFL (L-1) shall obtain permits/passes issued by the respective Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioners (Excise) of the district for receiving supplies. The licenses for the wholesale outlets of IMFL (L-1) shall be granted by the Excise and Taxation Commissioner on recommendation of the Dy. Excise and Taxation Commissioners (Excise) of the respective district. As per Clause 4.14 of the aforesaid policy, preference was to be given for grant of license to the applicants on the basis of revenue contribution in terms of L-2 license fee of the district for the year. In pursuance of the aforesaid Excise Policy, a public notice was published by the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Govt. of Haryana inviting applications for the allotment of wholesale licenses of IMFL (L-1) for general public for the year 2008-09. This notice also contained the stipulation that allotment of license shall be given to those who contribute maximum revenue in terms of license fee of L-2 in the District. The petitioner-firm which consists of 18 partners (who were having L-2 licenses, individually) submitted application along with necessary fee and other documents to the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Excise) District Hisar, Haryana on 19.3.2008. The petitioner- firm also submitted the details as regards the generation of revenue by the petitioner-firm vide letter dated 22.3.2008 (Annexure P-6).
(3.) AS per the averments made in the writ petition, no response was received from respondent No. 3 as regards the allotment of L-1 license in the District Hissar. However, after a few days, the petitioner-firm came to know that all the four L-1 wholesale licenses for the District Hisar were allotted by the official respondents to respondents No. 4 to 7. On coming to know about this, the petitioner-firm represented to the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner (Excise) District, Hisar to provide the details of the revenue/license fee generated by respondents No. 4 to 7 under L-2 licenses and from these details, the petitioner came to know that the revenue generated by respondents No. 4 to 7 is less than the present petitioner-firm and yet they have been allotted L-1 license with a mala fide intention and for extraneous consideration. Hence, this writ petition.;