Bombay High Court: Excise Commissioner is Duty Bound to Cancel Liquor License on the Application of Legal Heirs of the Deceased

Bombay High Court: Excise Commissioner is Duty Bound to Cancel Liquor License on the Application of Legal Heirs of the Deceased

The Bombay High Court by its single judge Justice Bharat P. Deshpande has observed that transfer of liquor license is at the discretion of the concerned authority and when the legal heirs of the deceased license holder applied for cancellation, the excise Commissioner is duty bound to cancel it.

In the present case, the petitioner had challenged the order passed by the Commissioner of Excise, who had canceled the liquor license for the retail sale of IMFL and CL for consumption standing in the name of the late Mr. Joaquim C. Souza Ferrao, resident of Calcondem, Margao-Goa.

Aggrieved by the same, the petitioner filed an appeal against the order passed by the Commissioner of Excise; however, the Appellate Authority/Chief Secretary rejected the same appeal.

The petitioner contended that through a Deed of Partnership executed on 21 December, 2009, between the petitioner and Mr. Joaquim C. Souza Ferrao, the petitioner was permitted to operate a bar and restaurant. As per the deed, the sale of liquor was undertaken on the basis of a license issued in the name of Joaquim C. Souza Ferrao.

The petitioner contended that, in view of the partnership deed, he was entitled to transfer the license in his name. However, the legal heirs of the late Joaquim C. Souza Ferrao applied for cancellation of the license with the Excise Department. The Appellate Authority had rejected the petitioner’s appeal.

The Court noted that as per the Partnership Deed it was nowhere permitted to the petitioner to apply for transfer of the liquor license in his name in the event of the death of the license of the original license holder, and in that case, the license was required to be transferred in the name of the legal heirs.

“It is crystal clear that the said clause nowhere permits the petitioner to apply for transfer of the liquor license in his name in the event of the death of the license holder. At the most such clause shows that the legal heirs were supposed to join as partners upon the death of the original license holder and in that case, the license was required to be transferred in the name of such legal heirs,” the Court noted.

Therefore, the Court held that the appellate authority, in its order, had rightly observed that the petitioner was trying to mix the issues with regard to the deed of partnership with those of transfer of license under the provisions of the Goa Excise Duty Act.