HC bars Punjab from action against operator of Chandigarh airport’s duty-free shops
The Punjab and Haryana HC court order came on a plea by M/S Liquor World Venture Private Limited, a firm running three shops at the Chandigarh airport
The Punjab and Haryana high court has restrained the Punjab government from passing any adverse order against the duty-free shops’ operator at the Chandigarh International Airport without the court’s permission and further directed that the operator be allowed to continue with its operations.
The court order came on a plea by M/S Liquor World Venture Private Limited, a firm running three shops at the airport. The vendor had challenged some provisions in the 2022-23 Excise Policy, which the operator alleged were “customised to favour” some.
To achieve this, the petitioner was unnecessarily being targeted, petitioner’s counsel Kunal Mulwani argued, adding that the excise department had exceeded its jurisdiction by encroaching upon the exclusive domain of the Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL), the airport operator, which is a conglomerate of the Government of India, Punjab and Haryana.
It was submitted that in the excise policy, participation conditions had been prescribed for L-2 licence tender, which was impermissible, as the petitioner had an ongoing contract with CHIAL, which was binding on the Punjab government as well.
The five-year contract was awarded in January 2020 against a monthly licence fee of ₹24.06 lakh and in view of the Covid-19 outbreak and disruption of air travel, the period was extended by up to two years, the court was informed.
However, the new excise policy mandates a minimum experience of two years and minimum average annual turnover of ₹10 crore from 2018 onwards.
The state’s counsel argued that agreement was only with respect to having right to an area within the airport, while the excise rules remained applicable and policies were modified from time to time.
It was also argued that upon inspection, certain violations were reported and a show-cause notice was issued to the operator.
Taking note of the submissions, the bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Vikas Suri observed that prima facie the arguments raised by the government that the agreement with CHIAL was only for permission to operate was not justified.
The court directed that the government can invite fresh tenders, however a person applying will be informed about the litigation pending in high court. The tender will be subject to final orders and applications will be at their risk and cost, the court said, while allowing the present operator to continue with operations.