R.S. Narula, J. - (1.) THIS order will dispose of two connect d writ petitions (Civil Writs 344 and 453 of 1969) in which the following common question of law arises - Whether the alleged balance of license -fee claimed by the State from a country liquor licensee can be recovered by coercive process under section 60 of the Excise Act as arrears of land revenue without passing an order for the cancellation of the license and without re -auctioning the vend for the remaining period of the excise year ?
(2.) MR . Tirath Singh Munjral, learned counsel for the petitioners in both these cases, has referred to condition No. 15 of the Conditions of the License (annexure 'A') which is based on rule 36 of the Punjab Liquor License Rules. Condition No. 15 reads as follows: 15(i) The successful bidder shall deposit security equivalent to l/24th of the amount of the annual license fee within a period of 7 days of the date of auction or by the last day of the month in which the auction takes place whichever is earlier. The aforesaid amount of security shall be refundable to him at the end of the year, unless the same or any part thereof is forfeited or adjusted against any amount of fee, duty or penalty due. from him m respect of his license. In the event of the amount of the security deposit or any part thereof being forfeited or adjusted as aforesaid, the deficiency in the security amount shall be made up by him within 7 day of the happening of such an event, failing which the license shall be liable to cancellation by the authority by which it was granted. (ii) The successful bidder who is granted a license for retail vend of country spirit shall pay the whole , amount of license fee in 24 equal installments, each installment being payable by the 10th and 25th day of each month, beginning from the month of April, 1968 (iii) If any person whose bid has been accepted at the auction fails to make deposit of the amount of security equal to 1/24th of the license fee fixed at the auction or if he refused to accept the license, the Collector may re -sell the license either by public auction or by private contract and any deficiency in license fee and all expenses for such re -sale or attempted re sale shall be recoverable from the said person in the manner Laid down in section 60 of the Punjab Excise Act (1 of 1914); (iv) In the event of a license for retail vend of country spirit being cancelled, the Collector may resell it by public auction or by private contract in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Punjab Liquor License Rules, 1956 and any deficiency in the license fee and all expenses of such re -sale or attempted re -sale shall be recoverable from the defaulting licensees in the manner laid down in section 60 of the Punjab Excise Act (1 of 1914). The first submission of Mr. Munjral is that the amount of unpaid installments of license -fee for that part of the year which had not yet expired at the time of starting the recovery proceedings and even for the period which had already expired but for which payment had not been made, does not fall either within clause (i) or clause (iii) of Condition No. 15, It has been frankly conceded by Mr. M. R. Sharma, learned Deputy Advocate -General, Punjab, that the claim in question does not fall under clause (iii). He, however, submits that an amount equal to l/24th of the total license -fee would fall under clause (i) of Condition No. 15 if and after an order forfeiting the security deposit is made or an automatic forfeiture is incurred. The dispute relates to the total amount claimed by the excise department and not to the extent of the security deposit. This, according to Mr. Sharma, falls under clause (ii) of Condition No. 15, which makes the liquor licensee responsible for payment of the licensee -fee in twenty four equal installments, payable on 10th and 25th of each English Calendar month, beginning from the month of April, 1968. Without in any manner traveling into the question of the correctness of the claim or of the amount actually claimed from the petitioners, Mr. Munjral states that even if it were to be assumed that the amount in dispute is due from the petitioners in respect of the unpaid installments of the license -fee, they cannot be recovered under section 60 expiry of the excise year and without passing an order for cancellation of the license. The contingency referred to by Mr. Munjral may fall under clause (iii) but is independent of clause (ii) of Condition No 15. The relevant part of the Punjab Excise Act (1 of 1914) provides that "all excise revenue" amongst other dues may be recovered from the person primarily liable to pay the same, or from his surety, if any, by distress and sale of his moveable property, or by any other process for the recovery of arrears of land revenue due from land -holders or from farmers of land or their sureties. "Excise, revenue" has been defined in section 2(9) of the Act as follows - (9) 'excise revenue' means revenue derived or derivable from any payment, duty, fee, tax, confiscation or fine imposed or ordered under the provisions of this Act, or of any other law for the time being in force relating to liquor or intoxicating drugs, but does not include a fine imposed by a Court of law. 'License fee' has been held by the Division Bench of this Court (S.B. Capoor, J and myself) in Onkar Nath Sukhdev Singh etc. v. State of Punjab etc. C W No. 2343 of 1968, decided on November 18, 1968, to be covered by the definition of the 'excise revenue'. That being so, the balance or arrears of license -fee' payable under Condition 15(ii) of the Conditions of License is clearly recoverable under section 60 of the Act. This mode of recovery is not made subject to the expiry of the excise year nor made subject to the cancellation of the license. No other point having been argued in these cases, both the writ petitions (Civil Writs 344 and 453 of 1969) fail and are dismissed with costs. ;