Tamil Nadu Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1985*
| [Tamil Nadu Act No. 29 of 1985] | [14th June, 1985] |
An Act further to amend the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937.
Whereas the existing system of public auction-cum-tender for grant of privilege and licence for sale, by retail, of arrack has in several cases enabled the bidders to collude with each other at the time of auction, thus resulting in underbidding and loss of revenue;
And Whereas under the said system, in some cases, the bid amounts were lower than the upset price and consequently the shops had to be reauctioned a number of times resulting in delay in the opening of the shops and consequent loss of revenue;
And Whereas it has been brought to the notice of State Government that the experience gained in the working of the said system has disclosed that the said system has suffered from the above defects and other defects;
And Whereas the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited which is a Corporation wholly owned and controlled by the State Government has already been granted the exclusive privilege of supplying, by wholesale, arrack and Indian-made foreign spirits for the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu;
And Whereas the State Government have, after careful consideration, taken a policy decision to grant, in public interest, to the said Corporation, also the exclusive privilege of selling,.by retail, arrack for the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu;
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Tamil Nadu in the Thirty-sixth year of the Republic of India as follows:-
* Received the assent of the Governor on the 14th June, 1985 and published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, Extraordinary, No. 223, dated June 14th, 1985.
1. Short title and commencement.- (1) This Act may be called the Tamil Nadu Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1985.
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2. Amendment of section 17-C, Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937.- In section 17-C of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937 (Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),-
(a) in sub-section (1),-
(i) in clause (a), for the word "or", the words "any liquor other than foreign liquor, or" shall be substituted;
(ii) in clause (b), for the word "or", the words "Indian-made foreign spirits or toddy but not arrack, or" shall be substituted;
(iii) in clause (c), the word "toddy" shall be added at the end;
(iv) for the words "any liquor other than foreign liquor within any local area", the words "within any local area" shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-section (1-A),-
(i) for clause (a), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-
"(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited, which is a Corporation wholly owned and controlled by the State Government, shall have-
(i) the exclusive privilege of supplying, by wholesale, arrack sand Indian-made foreign spirits for the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu and no other person shall be entitled to any privilege of supplying, if any wholesale, arrack or Indian-made foreign spirits for the whole or any part of the State; and
(ii) the exclusive privilege of selling, by retail, arrack for the whole of the State of Tamil Nadu and no other person shall be entitled to any privilege of selling, by retail, arrack for the whole or any part of the State.
(ii) in clause (b), for the expression "licence by the Commissioner for the exercise of the exclusive privilege referred to in clause (a) and such licence", the expression "licences by the Commissioner for the exercise of the exclusive privilege referred to in items (i) and (ii) of clause (a) and such licences" shall be substituted;
(iii) in clause (c), after the expression "under clause (b)" the expression "for the exercise of the exclusive privilege referred to in item (i) of clause (a)" shall be inserted;
(iv) after clause (c) and the proviso thereunder, the following clause shall be added, namely:-
"(d)(i) The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited shall, as soon as may be, after the grant of the licence under clause (b) for the exercise of the exclusive privilege referred to in item (ii) of clause (a), fix, locate and open as many shops as may be necessary to effectively carry on the business of sale, by retail, of arrack in the State and the said Corporation in so fixing the shops, shall take into account the population of the locality, the needs of the locality and other relevant factors.
(ii) The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited shall carry on the business of selling, by retail arrack-
(A) either directly through the employees of the said Corporation; or
(B) through the agents appointed by the said Corporation on its behalf and on such terms and conditions as the said Corporation may specify; or
(C) by both the methods specified in sub-items (A) and (B) of this item.
(iii) Any dispute between the said Corporation and the agent in respect of any matter shall be referred to the Commissioner or an officer not below the rank of District Revenue Officer specially empowered by the State Government in this behalf, whose decision thereon shall be final and such decision shall not be called in question in any court.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this Act, an agent appointed by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited for selling on its behalf, by retail, arrack shall not be deemed to be exercising any privilege of selling, by retail, arrack and accordingly the provisions of this Act relating to the grant of such privilege and licence for selling, by retail, arrack shall not apply to such agent".
3. Insertion of new section 22-C in Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937.- After section 22-B of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely;-
"22-C. Retail sale of arrack.-(1) The licence to the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited for the exercise of the exclusive privilege referred to in item (ii) of clause (a) of sub-section (1-A) of section 17-C shall be granted with effect on and from the 16th day of July, 1985:
Provided that-
(a) every licence for selling, by retail arrack which is valid on the 15th day of July, 1985 shall continue to be valid up to and inclusive of the 15th day of October, 1985, subject to the same terms and conditions which, the licence was granted, if the licence concerned intimates in waiting on or before the 1st day of July, 1985 the licensing authority his willingness to continue to sell, by retail, arrack, subject to the same terms and conditions;
(b) the Tamil Nadu Toddy and Arrack Shops (Disposal in Auction) Rules, 1981, and the Tamil Nadu Arrack (Retail Shops) Rules, 1981, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), continue to apply to any licence referred to in clause (a), only upto the 15th day of October, 1985 and the said rules shall cease to apply after the said date provided that the cesser of the said rules shall not affect any of licence committed or any find or penalty or forfeiture or liability incurred before, the 16th day of October, 1985;
Provided further that where the licence for selling, by retail, arrack is valid on the 15th day of July, 1985, and the licensee concerned is, not willing to continue to sell, by retail, arrack beyond the 15th day of July, 1985, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited shall, arrange for the sale, by retail, of arrack-
(A) either directly through the employees of the said Corporation; or
(B) through the agents appointed by the said Corporation on its behalf and on such terms and conditions as the said Corporation may specify; or
(C) by both the methods specified in items (A) and (B).
(2) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in clause (b) of the first proviso to sub-section (1), the Tamil Nadu Toddy and Arrack Shops (Disposal in Auction) Rules, 1981, in so far as it relates to arrack, and the Tamil Nadu Arrack (Retail Shops) Rules, 1981, are hereby repealed with effect on and from the 16th day of July, 1985:
Provided the ??? of July, 1985.
(3) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in section 54, the State Government may make rules for the purposes of carrying into effect the provisions of sub-section (1-A) of section 17-C and this section".
4. Amendment of section 24-A, Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937.- In section 24-A of the principal in the opening sentence, after the words "manufacture of liquor under this Act", the words "or whoever being an employee of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited, or whoever being an agent appointed by the said Corporation for selling on its behalf, by retail, arrack" shall be inserted.
5. Insertion of new section 56-B in Tamil Nadu Act X of 1937.- After section 56-A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:-
"56-B. Bar of jurisdiction of civil courts.- No civil court shall have jurisdiction in respect of any matter which the Commissioner or; other officer or the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited or other authority empowered by or under this Act has to determine and no injunction shall be granted by any court in respect of any action taken or to be taken by such Commissioner, officer, Corporation or other authority in pursuance of any power conferred by or under this Act".