Point of Lw: Petitioners cannot claim to have been unaware of the possibility of them being in default. This is the price of unwise gambling on litigation.

JUDGMENT :

GS Patel, J:

1. Eight of the ten Petitioners in Writ Petition No 2873 of 2021 and the first petitioner in Writ Petition No 1980 of 2021 are associations of hotels; the others are individual members of one or the other of these associations. We heard these two petitions along with Writ Petitions (L) No 7126 of 2022 and Writ Petition (L) No 7848 of 2022, both filed in March 2022, on 25th March 2022. All petitioners were represented by common attorneys and by a single senior counsel, Mr Tulzapurkar. On 25th March 2022, after the hearing concluded, we reserved judgment and posted the matters for pronouncement on 30th March 2022 - in our anticipation then the earliest possible date by which the judgment could be dictated, transcribed and corrected. As it happens, our draft was ready by the evening of 28th March 2022. That evening, we received a praecipe seeking a listing today, 29th March 2022, saying that the Petitioners in the two 2022 Writ Petitions sought to unconditionally withdraw them. We have listed all four petitions at 10:30 am on the supplementary board today. By a separate order, we have permitted the withdrawal of the two 2022 petitions. We also advance the date for pronouncement of judgment in the two 2021 Petition. No one can object to a judgment being pronounced earlier rather than later.

2. Vending of foreign liquor is controlled by licenses under the Maharashtra Prohibition Act, 1949 in Form FL-III, renewable annually. Foreign liquor is sold at the Petitioners’ hotels. The Petitioners are unwilling to pay the license renewal fees prescribed by the State Government. They have paid 50% of the revised fees for 2021-2022. They are unwilling to pay more. They demand concessions. They complain of discrimination at the hands of the Respondents.

3. Under Rule 45 of the Maharashtra Foreign Liquor Rules 1953 (“the MFL Rules”) and Rules 3 and 4 of the Maharashtra Potable Liquor (Periodicity and Fees for Grant, Renewal or Continuance of a Licenses) Rules 1996 (“the Periodicity Rules”), a FL-III license is valid from 1st April to 31st March. Rule 3 of the Periodicity Rules requires that revised license fees be notified in the Official Gazette.

4. On 28th January 2021, Respondent No. 1 issued the impugned notification prescribing the license fees for 2021-2022, Petition, Exhibit F, p. 44. The 2022 Writ Petitions impugned an identical notification of 28th January 2022. The Petitioners made two representations on 25th March 2021 and 27th March 2021 against this notification. The Petitioners sought a time-extension or an instalment payment facility. They also demanded a reduction because they were being allowed to operate only at 50% (because of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions). They also sought that those who had already paid 100% for the previous year should be allowed to ‘adjust’ 50% for the 2021-2022 period.

5. The Petitioners filed this Petition on 28th April 2021. On 6th May 2021, this Court granted ad-interim relief in the following terms:

“The Writ Petition has been filed seeking the following reliefs:

a. That this Hon’ble Court be pleased to pass a writ, order and direction quashing and setting aside the Notification dated January 28, 2021 issued by the Respondent No. 1 b. That this Hon’ble Court be pleased to pass a writ, order and direction directing the Respondent No. 1 to treat the commencement date of the license period for FL-III license for Financial Year 2021- 22 as the date on which restrictions imposed on the operations of the place of business of FL-III licenses in the State of Maharashtra are lifted and FL-III licenses are permitted to carry on their business as per the hours and conditions set out in the Maharashtra Prohibition Act and Rules made thereunder;

(c) That this Hon’ble Court be pleased to pass a writ, order and declaration that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing restriction on operation of FL-III licenses are relevant facts to determining the quantum of license fees for FL-III licenses f