1. The petitioner had been given the privilege to vend toddy at shops in Group No.III of Vadakara Range. When he had been carrying on the business with a renewed licence for the year 2014-2015, a crime No. 125 of 2014 of Vadakara Excise Range came to be registered against the petitioner under Section 57(a) of the Kerala Abkari Act.

2. Apart from sample A getting tested positive, in course of time, sample B also tested to be positive. Under those circumstances, the first respondent issued Ext.P4 proceedings dated 23.07.2014 suspending the licence. Later, the same authority issued Ext.P5 proceedings dated 08.10.2014 cancelling the petitioner's licence for the abkari year 2014- 2015. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioner has filed the present writ petition.

3. The learned counsel has submitted that in the chemical analysis, it came to light that there was a very minimal quantity of starch found in the toddy collected as sample from the petitioner's shop. The first contention raised by the petitioner is that the substance 'starch', assuming it to have been found in the toddy, is not a noxious substance. He has further contended that since the purpose of adding starch is to increase