Ramanujam, J.

1. In all these writ petitions, the petitioners have challenged the constitutional validity of the Tamil Nadu Ordinance IV of 1983 which seeks to amend the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 3937 in certain respects.

2. All the petitioners herein are persons who had been granted the privilege of supplying by wholesale arrack or liquor under Section 17-C of the Prohibition Act read with Rule 6 of the Tamil Nadu Arrack (Supply by Wholesale) Rules, 1981 from 16th July, 1981 till 31st March, 1983. They had applied for renewal of their licences in time. Since no orders had been passed on their applications for renewal, the period of their licences should be deemed to have been extended for a period of two months from the date of expiry, i. e., till 31st May, 1983.

3. At that stage, the Tamil Nadu Ordinance IV of 1983 was promulgated by the Governor on 27th May, 1983 amending Section 17-C by inserting a Sub-section (1-A) and also inserting a new section, namely, Section 22-B in the Prohibition Act. Section 17-C as it stood before the amendment, enabled the State Government to grant to any person or persons on such conditions and for such period as may be prescribed the exclus