SC holds 'states have power to regulate industrial alcohol'

IN MAJORITY VERDICT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that states have regulatory power over the production, manufacture, and supply of industrial alcohol.

In an 8:1 majority ruling, the top court held that the phrase "intoxicating liquor" in Entry 8 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution would include industrial alcohol within its ambit.

The majority bench comprised Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Abhay S Oka, J B Pardiwala, Manoj Misra, Ujjal Bhuyan, Satish Chandra Sharma, and Augustine George Masih. Justice B V Nagarathna, however, dissented and held that states did not have the legislative competence to regulate industrial alcohol or denatured spirit.

The apex court's majority verdict overturned its 1990 seven-judge bench judgment in Synthetics & Chemicals Ltd. v. State of Uttar Pradesh, holding that the Centre had the regulatory power over the production of industrial alcohol.