In Brief
The Supreme Court (2-1 majority) struck down Rule 24(i-eeee) of the Haryana Liquor License Rules 1970, which provided for a single L-1BF (imported foreign liquor) license for the entire State of Haryana. The Court held that the Financial Commissioner, acting as delegatee, lacked power to prescribe the number of licenses for the entire State. Under Section 58(2)(e) of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, only the State Government may regulate the number of licenses in any local area. While Section 59(a) grants the Financial Commissioner regulatory powers, these are limited to operational matters after a license is granted, not to determining license numbers statewide. The delegation prohibition in Section 13(a) applies, and the State Government's exclusive authority over numbers remains intact.",
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