The Telangana High Court on Saturday, October 25, reserved its verdict in a case challenging the extension of the deadline for receiving applications for liquor shop allocations. The court made it clear that any decision subsequently taken by the government regarding the allocation process would be subject to the final judgement. Both parties were directed to submit brief written arguments by Monday.
The dispute arose after the Excise Department extended the final date for submitting applications from October 18 to October 23. This order, given by the Excise Commissioner, was objected to by D Venkateswara Rao and four others from Hyderabad through a writ petition in the High Court.
The arguments in the case were heard by Justice N Tukaramji. For the government, Additional Advocate General Mohammed Imran Khan pleaded that the application process was being carried out in public interest and transparently. He quoted Supreme Court directions, observing that courts could step in only where there was malicious intent or prejudice in the process. He also apprised the court that the extension was availed because of a bandh (strike/shutdown) condition during the initial period for submission. He also noted that one of the petitioners had actually made an application on October 23, implying the petition had been filed with the intent to mislead.
Senior advocate Avinash Desai, appearing for the petitioners, countered that they were not seeking to amend the rules but only urging the government to follow the existing ones. He argued that once the deadline for applications was fixed, the authorities had no power to change it later.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reserved its order in the matter.
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