Amendment to T.N. Liquor Rules is being placed before Assembly today, A-G tells Madras High Court

Tamil Nadu: Govt. to amend rules to allow liquor serving at events in convention halls, stadia. Govt. to place amendment before Assembly on Oct. 9, 2023. A-G urges court to dismiss PIL challenging govt. decision.

An amendment to the Tamil Nadu Liquor (Licence and Permit) Rules, 1981 , to introduce a special licence regime for the possession and serving of liquor to guests during national and international events in convention halls and stadia, is being placed before the Legislative Assembly on Monday, October 9, 2023, Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram told the Madras High Court.

Appearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy, the A-G referred to the agenda for the Assembly proceedings on October 9, 2023 and stated that the government decision to amend the statutory rules had been included in it, pursuant to a query raised by the court in this regard on July 24 this year.

While hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by K. Balu of the Advocates Forum for Social Justice, challenging the government’s decision, the first Bench had wondered how the government could amend the rules through the issuance of a Government Order dated April 26, 2023, without placing the amendment before the Legislative Assembly for discussion.

Sitting along with Justice P.D. Audikesavalu in July this year, the Chief Justice had pointed out to the A-G that Section 54 (3) of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act of 1937 requires any amendment to the statutory rules, framed under the Act, to be tabled before the Legislative Assembly for the members to discuss and take a call on, either adopting the amendment or rejecting it.

Following the query, the A-G told the Bench that “the amendment is being placed before the Assembly today since it is meeting for the first time only now after the court raised the question.” Dehors the Assembly proceedings, he also filed a detailed counter affidavit to the PIL petition on merits, and urged the court to dismiss the case.

The A-G told the court that the government had initially issued a G.O. on March 18, 2023 permitting the serving of liquor even during household celebrations held at wedding halls and banquet halls. However, through the April 26, 2023 G.O., permission for household celebrations was denied, and the license to possess and serve liquor was restricted only to national/international events held at convention halls and stadia.