CHHATTISGARH EXCISE SETTLEMENT OF
LICENCES FOR RETAIL SALE OF COUNTRY LIQUOR (IN DISTRICT RAIPUR, DURG,
RAJNANOGAON, DHAMTARI AND MAHASAMUND) RULES, 2001[1] In exercise of the powers
conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 18 read with clauses (d), (e), (f),
(g), (h) of sub-section (2) of Section 62, of Chhattisgarh Excise Act, 1915
(No. II of 1915), the State Government make the following rules for the
settlement of country liquor shops in the revenue districts Raipur, Durg,
Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari and Mahasamund which were published previously as
required by sub-section (3) of Section 62, in Chhattisgarh Gazette. (1)
These rules may be called the Chhattisgarh Excise Settlement of
Licences for retail sale of country liquor (in district Raipur, Durg,
Rajnandgaon, Dhamtari and Mahasamund) Rules, 2001. (2)
These shall come into force from the date of their publication in
the Gazette. In these rules, unless there is
anything repugnant in the subject or context : (a)
"Act" means the Chhattisgarh Excise Act, 1915 (No. II of
1915) as amended from time to time; (b)
"Country Liquor" includes country spirit; (c)
"Excise Year" means the financial year commencing from
1st April to 31st March of the calendar year; (d)
"Family" means and includes spouse (husband or wife)
dependent son(s), unmarried daughter(s) and dependent parents; (e)
"Form" means the form appended to these rules; (f)
"Licensing Authority" means the Collector of the
District; (g)
"Licence fee" means a sum fixed in consideration of the
grant of the licence for exclusive privilege for selling of country liquor in a
retail shop under Section 18 read with clause (g) of sub-section (2) of Section
62 of the Act as fixed by the Excise Commissioner in consultation with the
State Government from time to time for the whole excise year or part thereof;
which shall be fixed for any country liquor shop on the basis of the categories
of the annual quantity; (h)
"Minimum month wise guaranteed quantity" means the
quantity of country liquor as fixed by the Licensing Authority in accordance
with the general or specific instructions issued by the Excise Commissioner and
guaranteed by the licensee to be lifted by him for his retail shop in a month
of an excise year for the purpose of retail sale which shall be fixed for any
country liquor shop on the basis of maximum lifting in a district during last
five years after making necessary increase/decrease: (i)
"Annual Quantity" means the sum total of the month wise
guaranteed quantity of an excise year; (j)
"Security amount" means a sum equal to the duty payable
on 1/12th of annual quantity in cash to be deposited in Government Treasury as
interest free security, refundable after the final settlement of all claims and
dues to the State Government. (a)
Subject to the provision of these rules and subject to the payment
of licence fee and security amount, the retail shop for sale of country liquor
shall be settled or resettled by fixed fee system as specified herein. (b)
The licence shall be granted in the Form C.S. 2-D for retail sale
of country liquor in sealed bottles for consumption 'On' the premises. Number of shops shall be fixed by
the Licensing Authority under general or specific instructions issued by the
State Government or by the Excise Commissioner from time to time. Location of
shop shall be as per the provisions of Rule (1) of rules of general
applications framed under the Act as amended from time to time. The period of licence shall be
for an excise year or part thereof for which the licence has been granted. The
licence may be renewed on such terms and conditions as may be decided by the
State Government. The licence shall be granted on
payment of annual licence fee and deposit of the security amount. (a)
Whenever a new licence is proposed to be granted in an area or
locality, the Licensing Authority shall invite the applications for this
purpose after giving wide publicity through daily newspapers having circulation
in that area. (b)
A list of the retail shops of country liquor for which the
Collector proposes to grant licence, shall be exhibited along with shop wise
licence fee and security amount at the Collector's Office, Tehsil Office and
the Offices of the District Excise Officer/Asstt. Commissioner Excise of the
District. (c)
Application for grant of licence shall be made in the prescribed
from as appended to these rules. (d)
The last date to be fixed for the receipt of application shall not
be earlier than seven days with effect from the date of publication of the
advertisement in a newspaper. Eligible applicants must fulfill
following conditions namely : (a)
Be a citizen of India or partnership firm whose partners are
citizens of India. No change in partnership shall be allowed after the allotment
of shop(s); (b)
Be above 21 years of age; (c)
Not be a defaulter/blacklisted or debarred from holding an excise
licence under the provisions of any rules made under the Act; (d)
Submits an affidavit duly verified by public notary as proof of
the following namely: (1)
That he possesses or has an arrangement for taking on rent a
suitable premise in that locality for opening the shop in accordance with the
provisions of the rule of rules of general applications under the Act as
amended from time to time; (2)
That his proposed premises of the shop have not been constructed
in violation of any law or rules; (3)
That he possesses good moral character and have no criminal
background and have not been convicted of any offence punishable under the Act
or Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 or any other law for
the time being in force, or any other cognizable and non-bailable offence; (4)
That in case he is selected as licensee he will furnish a
certificate issued by Superintendent of Police of the district of which he is
the resident, showing that he possesses good moral character and have no
criminal background or criminal record, within thirty days of grant of licence; (5)
That he shall not employ any salesman or representative who has
criminal background as mentioned in clause (III) or who suffer from any
infectious or contagious disease or is below 21 years of age or a woman; (6)
That he is not in arrear of any Government money; (e)
Furnish a bank draft drawn in favour of the District Excise
Officer or Asstt. Commissioner Excise issued from a nationalised Bank as
earnest money. The amount of earnest money shall be as fixed by the Excise
Commissioner. In case the applicant is selected as licensee, the earnest money
shall be adjusted against the licence fee. In other cases it shall be returned
as such to the applicant as soon as the selection process is over. There shall be a district level
committee for selection of licensees for retail sale of country liquor. The
committee shall consist of the following members namely : (i)
The Collector of the District Chairman (ii)
One Gazetted Officer of Excise Department nominated by the
Excise Commissioner Member (iii)
The District Excise Officer/Asstt. Excise Commissioner of the
District. Member-Secretary (a)
The District Excise Officer/Asstt. Excise Commissioner shall
prepare a list of all applications received with summary report to be put
before the district level committee for licensing. (b)
The said committee shall select licensees from the list of
applicants found eligible. In case there are more than one suitable applicant
for any particular shop, the committee shall select the licensee for such shop
by public lottery. In case the selected applicant does not deposit the required
amount and does not fulfill the prescribed formalities or is unable to arrange
suitable premises for the shop within stipulated period, the Licensing
Authority shall cancel the allotment and take steps for resettlement of the
shop. (c)
In case there is no application for a particular shop or no
candidate is found suitable for a shop, the Licensing Authority shall take
immediate steps for resettlement of the shop. (d)
Licensing Authority shall have the right to reject applications
received for a shop/shops without assigning any reason. As statement of the settled shops
along with names and addresses of the licensees, shop wise annual quantity,
details of security amount and licence-fee deposited shall be sent by the
District Excise Officer/Asstt. Commissioner Excise to the Excise Commissioner
within 15 days of the settlement. In case an applicant is selected
as licensee, he shall deposit the entire amount of licence fee and the security
amount within 3 days of being informed of his selection. If he fails to deposit
the amount of licence fee and security amount within prescribed period, his
selection shall stand cancelled and his earnest money shall be forfeited in
favour of the State Government and the said shop shall be resettled forthwith.
The defaulter shall be debarred from holding any excise licence anywhere in the
state. A consolidated list of such defaulters under this rule, along with their
complete address shall be forwarded by the District Excise Officer/Asstt.
Commissioner to the Excise Commissioner, who will circulate the consolidated
list of the state to all Licensing Authorities of the state. (a)
The licensee under these rules shall obtain supplies of country
liquor from any wholesale licensed warehouse of the district after making full
payment of cost price of country liquor including all taxes, duties, sealing
charges and cess as levied from time to time. The licensee shall place indent
at-least 72 hours in advance to the wholesale licensee/supplier of the district
from whom he intends to procure the supply of country liquor. (b)
The wholesale licensee/supplier with whom the indent has been
placed shall record the date and time of receipt of indent and shall ensure
supply of the desired quantity of liquor within 48 hours of the receipt of
indent. In case there is no country liquor available with the wholesale
licensee/supplier, the District Excise Officer/Asstt. Commissioner shall make
alternative arrangements for the supply of indented quantity of country liquor. (a)
The licensee is liable to lift the entire minimum month wise
quantity during a month. The licensee shall make indent for the entire minimum
month wise guaranteed quantity fixed for that month along with cost of country
liquor including all duties, sealing charges, taxes and cess, which must be submitted
to wholesale licensee by 25th day of the month. (b)
In case the retail licensee fails to submit the indent as per
clause (a) the District Excise Officer/Asstt. Commissioner Excise shall
immediately report the matter to the Licensing Authority, who shall taken
action to impose penalty on the amount of guaranteed quantity less lifted than
the fixed monthly guaranteed quantity at the rate of rupees 120/- proof liter
and shall adjust the amount equal to the imposed penalty from the security
amount and issue a notice to the licensee to replenish the shortfall in
security amount within a week and also show cause as to why the licence should
not be cancelled. It the licensee fails to deposit the amount of deficit in
security amount and does not furnish suitable explanation within the stipulated
period, the licence shall stand cancelled and the Licensing Authority shall
take immediate steps to resettle the shop. The licensee may lift up to 20%
in excess of month wise minimum guaranteed quantity for the month on the same
rate of duty, any further excess quantity shall be lifted on permission of the
District Excise Officer/Asstt. Commissioner and on payment of additional excise
duty as may be prescribed. The minimum retail price as may
be fixed by Excise Commissioner on approval of the State Government, which
shall be printed on the bottles of country liquor. The licensee shall not
charge from consumers less than the minimum retail price printed on labels of
bottles. The licensed premises shall
remain open for sale on all days from 10.00 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. except on 15th
August (Independence day), 2nd October (Gandhi Jayanti), 26th January (Republic
Day), 30th January (Mahatma Gandhi Nirwan Diwas), Holi and Moharrum and up to 3
more days as notified for closure by the Licensing Authority. Licensing
Authority may also order for closure of shop on account of law and order or
General Election related activity under the provisions of relevant laws. No
compensation shall be given for the closure of shop on above grounds. Any balance of country liquor
found outstanding and unsold at the expiry of term of licence shall be declared
by the licensee to the Licensing Authority on the next day and shall be
returned by him to the concerned wholesale licensee/ supplier of the district
by 5.00 p.m. of the next date of expiry of licence. The licensee shall be
entitled to get the refund of cost price only, excluding duty and other taxes.
The disposal of such stock shall be made as per orders of the Excise
Commissioner in this regard. A licensee may surrender his
licence after giving atleast one month's notice in writing to the Licensing
Authority under provisions of Section 33 of the Act. On receipt of such
application the Licensing Authority will take steps for recovering all
outstanding excise dues from his security deposit and refund the balance amount
after obtaining orders of the Excise Commissioner. The Licensing Authority
shall also proceed for resettlement of the shop without delay for the remaining
period of the excise year. (1)
Licensing Authority may suspend or cancel the licence : (a)
If any bottle is found in the licensed premises on which duty has
not been paid and which does not carry security hologram duly approved by the
Excise Commissioner as a proof of payment of duty; (b)
If any other kind of liquor or intoxicating drug (for which
licence is not granted) is found in the licensed premises; (c)
If the affidavit submitted by the licensee at the time of
application is found incorrect and assertions made therein are found to be
false; (d)
If the licensee fails to lift minimum month wise guaranteed
quantity during that month and also fails to replenish the shortfall in
security deposit within the period prescribed; consequent to the imposition of
penalty; (e)
If the licensee is convicted of any offence punishable under the
Act or any other law for the time being in force relating to revenue, or of any
cognizable and non-bailable offence, or any offence punishable under Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Act, 1985 or of any offence punishable under
Sections 482 to 489 of the Indian Penal Code; (f)
If any bottle is found in the licensed premises on which minimum
retail price is not printed. (2)
The Licensing Authority shall immediately suspend the licence and
forfeit the security deposit on above mentioned grounds. The Licensing
Authority will also serve a show cause notice for cancellation of licence and
the licensee shall submit his explanation within 7 days of the receipt of the
notice. Thereafter the Licensing Authority will pass suitable orders after
giving due opportunity of hearing to the licensee, if he so desires. (3)
The licensee shall not be entitled to claim any compensation or
refund for suspension or cancellation of licence under the rules. (4)
In case the licence is cancelled on the above mentioned grounds
the licensee may also be blacklisted and debarred from holding any excise
licence in future. (i)
All rules corresponding to these rules in force immediately before
the commencement of these rules hereby repealed irrespective of matters covered
by these rules : Provided that any order made or
action taken under the rules so repealed shall be valid in respect of country
liquor shop/shops for the financial year 2001-2002.CHHATTISGARH
EXCISE SETTLEMENT OF LICENCES FOR RETAIL SALE OF COUNTRY LIQUOR (IN DISTRICT
RAIPUR, DURG, RAJNANOGAON, DHAMTARI AND MAHASAMUND) RULES, 2001
PREAMBLE