October 24, 2024 • Makkal Adhikaram
The Supreme Court empowers the States to legislate under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution with regard to the production, distribution, purchase and sale of liquor in the State List. But in 1990, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard the matter and ruled that the central government had the power to control the supply of alcohol to industries.
Several states, including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Kerala, filed petitions in the Supreme Court against the verdict. A nine-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Chandra Sood, Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, J P Parvatiwala, Manoj Mishra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, Augustine George Misih and TV Nagarathna pronounced the verdict.
Eight judges, including Chief Justice of India Chandra Sood, ruled that the power to manufacture liquor rests with the state government and Parliament cannot interfere in making new laws. Justice Nagarathna, however, departed from the judgment and said that the states were not competent to legislate to regulate industrial liquor or denaturalised spirit.
Also, on what basis has the Supreme Court held that the central government has no jurisdiction in this? I don’t know. But in 1990, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the central government had the power to control it.
But the verdict was contrary to that verdict. As a result, many families are being ruined by alcohol today. Many state governments like Tamil Nadu say that they are running the administration with this income. This is disgraceful. Moreover, in the country it affects the lives of future younger generations. Many families are torn apart by quarrels. Many of the families who go to work are plagued by poverty on the one hand.
All in all, people are being ruined by this alcohol. If the central government has the power to control this, it can ban liquor in India as a whole. This is important for the economic development of the country. Besides, the morality of human life is superior to the freedom of an individual. Without understanding this, the Supreme Court has given this verdict today and my social activists and patriots of this nation have expressed anguish.
