HC upholds Odisha’s move to award liquor shop licences via lottery system

Under the system adopted by Odisha, an applicant for liquor shop licence has to submit a non-refundable application fee of ₹1 lakh online to participate in the lottery

Published on: Sep 30, 2021, 11:29:27 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Orissa high court on Wednesday upheld the government’s move to award liquor shop licences through a lottery system. It said while auction could be one of the modes for allotting the licences, it is not invariably the only method to be adopted.

The lottery system was adopted by the Odisha government to issue licences for 1,156 Indian-Made Foreign Liquor shops and 240 country liquor shops. (HT Photo by Arabinda Mahapatra)

The court rejected a bunch of petitions against the lottery system adopted this year. A division bench of chief justice S Muralidhar and justice BP Routray said the ideal method of determining the fee to be paid is best left to the government. “It is not possible to accept the contention of the petitioners that auction is the only and the best method for parting with the exclusive privilege for sale of liquor.”

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The lottery system was adopted to issue licences for 1,156 Indian-Made Foreign Liquor shops and 240 country liquor shops. Under the system, an applicant has to submit a non-refundable application fee of ₹1 lakh online to participate in the lottery. The state government received 19,416 applications for the 1,297 licences with five-year validity.

Petitioners contended that there is no provision in the Odisha Excise Act for introducing the lottery system.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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