Madras High Court Stays Single Judge's Order For Closure Of TASMAC Bars

The Madras High Court has ordered an interim stay of the order passed by Single Judge for closure of 'bars' attached to the TASMAC (Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation) Shops.The bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy said,"There shall be an order of interim stay of the impugned order passed by the learned Single Judge in regard to the running of the Bar by the TASMAC shop in question, finding prima-facie case in favour of the appellants/TASMAC in reference to the arguments made by the learned Advocate General."The Court however made it clear that the appellants/TASMAC are not precluded to bring amendment to the relevant Act or Rules for the purpose of clarity.Background The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) had issued tenders to award contracts to the highest bidders to collect empty liquor bottles in the bars and for sale of the short eats/starters/snacks/side dish water etc. in these Bars situated next to the TASMAC shops. This tender was challenged by the respondent claiming that the tenders were floated contrary to the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders Act, 1998 (Tamil Nadu Act 43 of 1998) and the Rules made thereunder The Single judge ordered closing down of all the Bars attached to the TASMAC shops within a period of 6 months. The court had observed that – "The provision as it stands today does not permit a person to be in public in an intoxicated state. Therefore, the respondents TASMAC as a State Monopoly can only confine itself with "wholesale" and "retail sale" of alcohol/liquor and cannot be allowed to be seen actively encouraging a person to consume alcohol in public space and violate the sanctions under the law. The practice of respondents TASMAC to allow mushrooming of "Bar" within the meaning of Tamil Nadu Liquor Retail Vending (In Shops and Bars) Rules, 2003 is contrary to the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937." Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram, appearing for the appellants submitted that the Single Judge had issued directions to discontinue the bar attached to the TASMAC shops without hearing those who have been granted licence/permission to collect empty bottles and sell eatables in the Bar attached to TASMAC shop and they were not made parties to the litigation. Further, it was submitted that closing of these bars would result in people consuming alcohol in public places causing more nuisance to others. He further highlighted that the main purpose of introducing such bars was to ensure that people did not consume illegal alcohol. He also contented that these bars generated revenue for the state and closing it would bring great loss to the state. It was also highlighted that these revenues were used for the welfare of the state.The matter will now be heard on April 26.Case Title: The Managing Director and Anr v. S. Jaggannathan Case No: W.A 883 of 2022 and C.MP No. 5926 of 2022Click here to read/download order

Madras High Court Stays Single Judge's Order For Closure Of TASMAC Bars

Upasana Sajeev

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