Madras High Court wants to know quantum, price of liquor procured by Tasmac
The Hindu
Tasmac has been directed to submit the details of its procurement from individual distilleries and breweries, in a sealed cover by January 6, for the court to examine if such information can be made public under the Right to Information Act of 2005.
The Madras High Court has decided to examine whether the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) is bound to disclose or not the quantum of liquor it procures from individual breweries and distilleries in the State and the cost at which such procurement takes place every year.
The court has directed Tasmac to submit by January 6 the copies of contracts it had entered into with the private breweries and distilleries. It has also called for the details regarding the quantum of liquor procured from them and the prices at which they had been supplied.
Tasmac has been ordered to submit the details in a sealed cover so that the court peruse it and decide whether there was any bar in disclosing the information to applicants under the Right to Information Act of 2005 on grounds of safeguarding trade secrets and ensuring commercial confidence.
The orders have been passed on a writ petition filed by Coimbatore-based advocate M. Loganathan in 2017.
The lawyer had submitted an application under the RTI Act in May 2015 seeking information for six of his queries related to income generated by the State government through sale of liquor in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
When his queries were answered only in part, he approached the Tamil Nadu State Information Commission in 2017. Thereafter, Tasmac Public Information Officer (PIO) answered five of his queries and explained details of expenditure incurred towards staff salary, payment of rent for retail shops and other administrative expenses.
However, the PIO refused to answer the query related to the quantum of liquor procured from individual distilleries and breweries and the cost at which such procurement took place on the ground that disclosure of the information would go against the commercial interests of the third parties involved in the issue.
Maharashtra's 29 civic bodies, including Mumbai, hold elections with 3.48 crore voters choosing 2,869 corporators amid intense competition.
Congress leader B.V. Rajeev Gowda from Shidlaghatta in Chikkaballapur district allegedly threatened the Municipal Commissioner of the town of setting fire to her office and getting her beaten up, and used abusive language, over a flex and banner that was removed for violating norms.
Police in Vizag seize 650 rolls of banned Chinese manjha amid safety concerns as illegal sales continue ahead of Sankranti.
Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar clarifies Rahul Gandhi's message was simply to continue good work, dismissing any speculation.
Over 51,000 hearings in Ernakulam help reinstate voting rights as part of the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.
The foundation stone for the construction of Shri Parashurama Swagata Gopura (Welcome Tower) in the northern entry to Udupi city will be laid by Yashpal Suvarna, Udupi MLA and president of Shiroor Mutt Paryaya Swagata Samiti on January 16.
The municipal bus stand auditorium in Malappuram was packed. But nobody quite knew what to expect. After all, a new event was making its debut at the State School Arts Festival. The moment V.G. Harikrishnan started his rendition of Pyar bhare do sharmile nain..., everyone was convinced that Ghazal was here to stay. The student from GVHSS, Atholi (Kozhikode), was applauded loudly for his rendering of the timeless ghazal sung originally by Mehdi Hassan.
Join influential discussions at The Hindu Lit for Life festival in Chennai on January 17-18, 2024.
For the last few weeks, several wards in Madurai city have been getting piped drinking water through a new drinking water scheme. The sweetness of the generously supplied water has led to loss of business to several suppliers of canned drinking water in the city. But, not many know that the water supplied to the houses in Madurai is directly drawn from Lower Dam of Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district of Kerala.
A 20-acre farm on the St Xavier’s College campus at Thumba run by State Award-winning farmer S.V. Sujith had visitors from the Iowa State University, U.S., on Tuesday.
NGT issues notices to U.P., M.P., and Rajasthan over sewage contamination in drinking water, citing serious health risks.
Last-minute Pongal shoppers crowd Tiruchi's markets, boosting sales for traders amid rising prices for fruits and festive items.
Confusing coalitions and absent accountability raise voter concerns as Mumbai's civic elections approach amidst air quality neglect.