Supreme Court upheld the States’ right to regulate industrial alcohol.
A Constitution bench of nine judges with a majority of 8:1 upheld the States’ right to regulate industrial alcohol.
Entry 8 gives States the power to regulate the production, manufacture, possession, transport, purchase and sale of intoxicating liquor.
SC judges stated that the phrase ‘intoxicating liquor’ in Entry 8 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution would include industrial alcohol within its ambit.
Entry 8 of List II seeks to enhance the scope of the entry beyond potable alcohol.
The Supreme Court stated that Entry 8 was both an industry-based as well as a product-based entry in the State List.
CJI stated that the term ‘intoxicating liquor’ in Entry 8 should have a broad definition as far as possible.
Many states had challenged the Centre’s position that it had exclusive control over industrial alcohol.
