The State cannot impose an absolute administrative ban on the interstate transit of liquor under the guise of the Model Code of Conduct without specific legislative authority, especially when existing rules provide sufficient regulatory mechanisms to monitor transit and prevent the leakage of revenue.

BEFORE

HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANJAN MONI KALITA

ORDER

Date : 02.04.2026

Heard Mr. A. Saraf, learned Senior Counsel, assisted by Mr. S. P. Sharma, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner. Also heard Mr. P. N. Goswami, learned Addl. Advocate General, representing the State respondent nos. 1, 2 & 3 and Mr. A. I. Ali, learned Standing Counsel, representing the Election Commission of India (ECI).

2. The instant petition, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner, which is a registered Limited Liability Partnership firm in the State of Arunachal Pradesh, being aggrieved by the impugned order dated 24.03.2026, issued by the Excise Commissioner, Govt. of Assam, whereby, issuance of Transit Pass has been completely prohibited for movement of liquor consignments originating from outside the State of Assam, destined to other States, passing through the State of Assam during the operation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the election of Assam Legislative Assembly, 2026.

3. The petitioner’s case is that the petitioner is engaged in the business of manufacturing, bottling, packaging and manufacturing-export of beer or beer related drinks and as the petitioner’s factory is located at Namsai, Arunachal Pradesh, the petitioner is required to transit, cross Assam border for delivering it’s manufactured goods in different States of India. In usual course, for travelling to the Consignee State (importer) via Assam, a Transit Pass is required to be issued to the petitioner by the Assam Excise Department in terms of Rule 338 (a) of Assam Excise Rule, 2016. On issuance of such Transit Pass, once the vehicle enters the designated entry check gate of Assam Excise Department, the same is checked and endorsed digitally and manually by the officers of the Excise Department and it is sealed and signed by them and when the said vehicle exits Assam, then the said exit post of Assam Excise Department, the Excise Department officers, redo the entire exercise for ensuring that no tampering has been done to the seal that was endorsed in the entry check gate. It is also stated that for ensuring that no unauthorized liquor is being sold in the State of Assam while transporting the liquor, the State Excise Department of Arunachal Pradesh, as per the requirements of Rule 338 (a) of the Assam Excise Rule ensures that only container vehicle which is closed from all sides and having single rebated door are being used along with digital lock and this lock can only be opened via an OTP, which is generated once the vehicle reaches the consignee destination.

4. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner is in receipt of import permits for delivering liquor beverages issued by different consignee located in different States of India and those import permits which are issued to the consignee have their own validity dates and in the event of expiry of those validity dates, the petitioner will suffer irreparable loss and injury. Against the aforesaid import permits, the petitioner applied for export permits to the Excise Department of Arunachal Pradesh and after due verification of the import permits, the export permits were issued to the petitioner, which too have their respective expiry dates. In this connection, 2(two) charts, one for import permits and other for export permits are provided in the writ petition. It is also contended that the export permits so issued,