The Bombay High Court has held that the Bombay Denatured Spirit Rules, 1959 to the extent that they regulate the possession, use, sale, import, export and transport of denatured spirit, are ultra vires and unconstitutional.

The division bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla struck down Rules 23 to 62 of the said rules and held that under the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, no licence is required for sale, purchase, transport, possession, storage, dehydration, import and export of denatured spirit.

Under the Bombay Prohibition Act, “denatured” means subjected to a process prescribed for the purpose of rendering unfit for human consumption. The 22-page judgment was passed in a batch of writ petitions, many of them filed by manufacturers of denatured spirit do not require a licence under the Maharashtra Prohibition Act to carry out their business.

Appearing for the petitioner’s DB Sawant and Veena Thadani submitted that under the said Rules manufacturers have to obtain a pass issued by Union of India under Rules 49 and 50 for the import and export of denatured alcohol and this is granted  only after paying import / export fees mentioned in Rule 52 and 59 of the rules. The import of denatured spirit is governed by Rules 51 to 56 and the export is governed by Rules 57 to 62 of the said rules.

It was argued that the state government lost its power to legislate with respect to Fermentation Industries as defined under Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951 amended in 1956. The definition of ‘fermentation industries’ includes alcohol and other products of fermentation industries.