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Our Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, Jan. 27

THE Madras High Court has ordered refund of excess privilege fee to a retail liquor vendor of Karur District as the licence issued was for a lesser period than the normal one year.

Mr Justice P.K. Misra, while disposing a writ petition from Mr P. Samidurai, said the petitioner had stated in the affidavit that on the basis of the writ petition, the District Collector, Karur, had advised the Commissioner of Prohibition & Excise to pass orders for refund of the sum of Rs 3.6 lakh to the petitioner.

If the Collector had already issued such a letter, the Commissioner should comply within a period of 1 month, he said.

According to the petitioner, the Tamil Nadu Government had auctioned retail liquor shops for the period July 2001 to July 2002 for an annual privilege fee of Rs 9 lakh.

Later, as the demand was high, the Government called for applications for issue of licences. Accordingly, the petitioner applied for the licence. The petitioner was asked to pay a sum of Rs 3 lakh.

The petitioner was under the impression that licence to be granted would be for one year as the sum of Rs 3 lakh paid represented one-third of the total value of the licence, which was Rs 9 lakh.

The petitioner won in the draw held on December 24, 2001 and he was allotted a shop for a period commencing from December 24, 2001 to July 31, 2002. He was directed to pay the balance amount of Rs 6 lakh.

The petitioner said that the respondent had collected Rs 9 lakh from the allottees of regular shops for a period of one year, and the respondent insisted on the petitioner to pay Rs 9 lakh even though the duration of the licence of the petitioner for a period less than one year.

Despite several representations to the respondents pleading for refund of the excess privilege fee paid, the petitioner had not received any favourable response. According to the petitioner, despite the expiry of the period of lease for the shop on July 31, 2002, the authorities had been granting ad hoc fortnightly extensions of the lease till September 30, 2002 on payment of additional privilege amount by the petitioner, which was in excess of the original privilege fee levied. Such fortnightly extensions had been forced upon him even though he had not applied for it.

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