The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that state governments can legislate on the sale of ‘industrial alcohol’, otherwise called ‘denatured spirits’, by including it under the term ‘intoxicating liquor’ in the State List, i.e., the list of subjects on which States can pass laws.
Eight members of the Chief Justice DY Chandrachud-led nine-judge Constitution Bench found in favour of petitioning states – led by Uttar Pradesh and including Maharashtra, Bengal, and Kerala – while the ninth, Justice BV Nagarathna, dissented.
The majority ruled that the term ‘intoxicating liquor’ cannot be understood to mean only that fit for human consumption.
Instead, it will include all liquids that contain alcohol, even if not meant for human consumption, can be included in the term ‘intoxicating liquor’.
The Chief Justice said states’ power to legislate could not be challenged since the law covers ‘intoxicating’ and ‘industrial’ products, and that the union could not take over this subject.
The majority ruling overturned a 34-year decision by a seven-judge bench in Synthetics and Chemicals Pvt Ltd vs State of Uttar Pradesh. It was referred to a nine-judge bench in 2007.
Justice BV Nagarathna, however, ruled on the principle that ‘industrial alcohol’ means it is not fit for human consumption, and that there was a “lack of competence for the state legislature”. She said the decision in the Synthetics case had been “correctly decided by this court”.
The verdict had been reserved in April after a marathon six-day hearing.
In that hearing, petitioners argued that if the power to regulate ‘industrial alcohol’ goes to the centre, their hands would be tied when dealing with illegal consumption of ‘industrial alcohol’.