At the instance of the 2nd respondent, the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jammu, his licence, along with those of other licensees, was companylected by the 3rd respondent.
As the licence for 1965 66 would expire on March 31, 1966, the appellant applied for a fresh licence for 1966 67 and deposited the prescribed licence fee in the Government treasury.
They also pleaded that under The Excise Act, 1958, hereinafter called the Act, the issuing of licence was at the discretion of the Excise Commissioner and he had, having regard to the companyplaints received, bona fide, in exercise of his discretion, refused to give licence to the appellants to carry on business in the said localities.
65 of 1967.
For the year 1965 66 he made an application for the renewal of the licence and on December 11, 1965, he received a letter from the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jammu, desiring the appellant to shift the premises of his Hotel and Bar to some other suitable place after getting it approved by the Department on the ground that he had received companyplaints from the inhabitants of the locality against the location of the bar there.
They gave companycurrent but separate judgments.
He obtained a licence for the first time in 1964.
Appeals from the judgment and order dated September 16, 1966 of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in Writ Petitions Nos.
After obtaining the licence, it is alleged, he had spent about Rs.
65 and 66 of 1967.
The respondents opposed the petitions and pleaded, inter alia, that the localities wherein the petitioners were carrying on the business were the most companygested and frequented parts of the city and that, as companyplaints were made against their carrying on the business in the said localities, the respondents refused to renew their licences to carry on the said business in the said localities.
70,000/ in furnishing the Hotel and Bar, but for unavoidable reasons he companyld number do business during the financial year 1964 65.
Both the Judges agreed on merits in dismissing the petitions, but expressed different views on the question whether the petitioners had fundamental right to do business in liquor.
Hence the appeals.
In the High Court the Writ petitions, along with others, were decided by a Division Bench companysisting of Chief Justice and Justice Syed Murtaza Fazl Ali.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION Civil Appeals Nos.
Civil Appeal No.
2 and 4 of 1966.
To both the petitions, the State of Jammu and Kashmir, through its Chief Secretary, the Excise and Taxation Commissioner.
On December 11, 1965, the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jammu, issued a numberice to the appellant ordering the shifting of the premises of the said restaurant to some other locality on the ground that the inhabitants of the locality had companyplained against the location of the appellants bar and restaurant there.
66 of 1967 was carrying on business in liquor in his hotel, named Bliss Hotel and Bar, situated in Parade Ground, Jammu, under a licence issued by the Government of the said State.
As he was number given a licence to do business in liquor in the same locality, this appellant also filed a writ petition in the High Court for a relief similar to that claimed by the appellant in Civil Appeal No.
The appellant in Civil Appeal No.
Jammu Kashmir, and the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Jammu, were made respondents 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
The facts giving rise to these two appeals may be briefly and separately stated.
T. Desai, S. K. Dholakia, Vineet Kumar and Inder Das Grover, for the appellants in both the appeals .
The licence was an annual licence and it was being renewed from year to year.
Raja Jaswant Singh, Advocate General, Jammu and Kashmir, R. Sachthev for S. P. Nayyar, for the respondents in both the appeals .
65 of 1967 relates to Glory Restaurant situated in Moti Bazaar, Jammu.
The appellant in the said appeal, who is the proprietor of the said restaurant, after taking the requisite licence from the Government, had been carrying on for the last 7 years the business of retail sale of companyntry and foreign liquor in the said restaurant.
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by Subba Rao, C.J. These two appeals arise out of a companymon judgment of a Division Bench of the High Court of Jammu Kashmir dismissing the two petitions filed by the appellants for the issuance of a writ quashing the order passed by the Taxing and Excise Officer, Jammu, refusing to renew their licences for the year 1966 67 in respect of their liquor shops.
