High Court · 2025

Petitioner :- Smt. Pawdhari Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others 2 Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

8. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 769 of 2025 Petitioner :- Smt. Munni Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

9. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 770 of 2025 Petitioner :- Smt. Neelam Gupta Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

10. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 771 of 2025 Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Pathak Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhishek Shekhar Ojha,Anurag Kumar Ojha,Parmatma Nand Ojha Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

11. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 772 of 2025 Petitioner :- Himansu Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

12. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 773 of 2025 Petitioner :- Himanshu Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

13. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 774 of 2025 Petitioner :- Jamvant And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

14. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 775 of 2025 Petitioner :- Kapil Dev Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. 3

15. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 776 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sanjay Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

16. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 778 of 2025 Petitioner :- Meena Devi Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Vinay Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

17. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 781 of 2025 Petitioner :- Kareena Sonkar And 3 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhishek Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

18. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 783 of 2025 Petitioner :- Meena Devi And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Vinay Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

19. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 784 of 2025 Petitioner :- Tej Pal Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

20. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 785 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sohan Pal Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

21. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 786 of 2025 Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Baghel And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prem Sagar Verma,Rahul Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

22. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 789 of 2025 Petitioner :- Rajbhan Singh And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo 4 Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

23. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 790 of 2025 Petitioner :- Geeta Devi And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

24. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 791 of 2025 Petitioner :- Rajbhan Singh And 12 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

25. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 792 of 2025 Petitioner :- Indrasen Singh And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

26. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 794 of 2025 Petitioner :- Dr. Vaibhav Jaiswal And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

27. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 795 of 2025 Petitioner :- Manoj Kumar Sharma And 19 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

28. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 796 of 2025 Petitioner :- Indrabahadur Singh @ Pappu Singh And 3 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

29. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 797 of 2025 Petitioner :- Bhupendra Singh And 22 Others 5 Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

30. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 798 of 2025 Petitioner :- Vivek Jaiswal And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

31. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 799 of 2025 Petitioner :- Uday Pratap Singh And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

32. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 800 of 2025 Petitioner :- Raj Bahadur And 31 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

33. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 801 of 2025 Petitioner :- Dharmendra Kumar And 5 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

34. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 802 of 2025 Petitioner :- Amar Singh And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Saurabh Basu,Vaishali Rai Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

35. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 803 of 2025 Petitioner :- Shahina And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

36. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 804 of 2025 6 Petitioner :- Rakesh Kumar Ojha And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Devottam Pandey Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

37. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 805 of 2025 Petitioner :- Manoj Kumar Gupta And 15 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

38. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 806 of 2025 Petitioner :- Subawati Devi Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Kumar Ashutosh Srivastava,Nagendra Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

39. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 807 of 2025 Petitioner :- Lokesh Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Kumar Ashutosh Srivastava,Nagendra Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

40. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 811 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sharadh Jaiswal Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

41. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 813 of 2025 Petitioner :- Raghvendra Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Saurabh Basu,Vaishali Rai Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

42. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 814 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sharadh Jaiswal And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. 7 HON'BLE PIYUSH AGRAWAL,J.

1. Heard Shri Sanjeev Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner in Writ Tax No. - 723 of 2025 as well as other counsel for the petitioners in the connected cases and Shri Manish Goel, learned Additional Advocate General, assisted by Shri Kunal Ravi Singh and Shri Bipin Bihari Pandey, learned Chief Standing Counsel as well as Shri B.K. Pandey and Shri Ravi Shankar Pandey, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the State – respondents.

2. Since learned counsel for the parties submit that the issues involved in these writ petitions are similar, therefore, the same are being decided by the common order with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. Writ Tax No. 723 of 2025 is taken as a leading case for deciding the controversy involved in these writ petitions. All the counsels for the other connected writ petitions adopt the arguments advanced by Shri Sanjeev Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner in Writ Tax No. - 723 of 2025. Writ Tax No. 723 of 2025:

3. The instant writ petition has been filed for a writ of certiorari quashing the part of para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated

06.02.2025 issued by the respondent no. 1 along with its consequential order dated 06.02.2025 issued by the respondent no. 2 as well as the impugned notification/advertisement dated

12.02.2025 issued by the respondent nos. 3 & 4 providing settlement of all the country liquor shops through e-lottery process for the excise year 2025-26, including the shop of the petitioner.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that on 06.02.2025, the respondent nos. 1 & 2 issued notification/Government Order for the excise year 2025-06 by which all the country liquor shops in the State have been put for settlement under e-lottery process. He further submits that para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated 8

06.02.2025 violets rule 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Excise (Settlement of Licenses for Retail Sale of Country Liquor) Rules, 2002, as amended from time to time, lastly, applicable from 01.04.2018, (hereinafter referred to as, 'the Rules'). He further submits that it is settled principle of law that the Government Order or circular cannot override the statutory Rules and therefore, para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated 06.02.2025 is inconsistent to the Rules and thus, the same is liable to be quashed.

5. He further submits that para 5.11 of the said policy takes away the rights of consideration for renewal which were vested in favour of the petitioners in terms of various rules and to that extent, the policy is bad in law. He further submits that as per clause Clause

5.15.2.2(1)(ga) wherein it has been prescribed that all the stocks which are lying with the licensee shall be taken on 01.04.2025 and shall be kept in the custody of the Excise Commissioner which shall be destroyed by them under their guidance and videography, and no amount of compensation shall be payable to the licensee.

6. Per contra, learned Additional Advocate General supports the impugned Government Order and submits that now, vide Notification No. 4099/X-License-59/Country Liquor/2025-26 dated 03.03.2025, the State Government has amended Rule 5 of the Rules and therefore, the instant writ petitions are liable to be dismissed as fresh cause of action has arisen.

7. He further submits that in the absence of there being any right to carry out trade in liquor and there being a specific bar in seeking renewal by virtue of Section 36-A of the U.P. Excise Act, the claim of renewal/right to be considered for renewal based upon the Rules, is liable to be rejected.

8. He further submits that recently, the issues involved in these writ petitions have already been settled by the Lucknow Bench of this Court in a Bunch of writ petitions, the leading of which being 9 Vijay Pratap Singh & 5 Others Vs. State of U.P. & 3 Others [Writ C No. 2218 of 2025, decided on 05.03.2025).

9. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the records, this Court finds no reason to defer with the judgement passed by this Court in Vijay Pratap Singh (supra).

10. In view of the facts & circumstances of the case as well as the decision of this Court in Vijay Pratap Singh (supra), no interference of this Court is called for in these writ petitions.

11. The writ petitions lack merit and the same are hereby dismissed on the same terms as in the case of Vijay Pratap Singh (supra). Order Date :-07/03/2025 Amit Mishra AMIT KUMAR MISHRA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

Petitioner :- Smt. Pawdhari Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others 2 Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

8. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 769 of 2025 Petitioner :- Smt. Munni Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

9. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 770 of 2025 Petitioner :- Smt. Neelam Gupta Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

10. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 771 of 2025 Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Pathak Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhishek Shekhar Ojha,Anurag Kumar Ojha,Parmatma Nand Ojha Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

11. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 772 of 2025 Petitioner :- Himansu Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

12. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 773 of 2025 Petitioner :- Himanshu Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

13. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 774 of 2025 Petitioner :- Jamvant And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shashi Kant Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

14. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 775 of 2025 Petitioner :- Kapil Dev Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. 3

15. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 776 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sanjay Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Anshul Kumar Singhal,Sumit Daga Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

16. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 778 of 2025 Petitioner :- Meena Devi Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Vinay Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

17. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 781 of 2025 Petitioner :- Kareena Sonkar And 3 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Abhishek Kumar Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

18. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 783 of 2025 Petitioner :- Meena Devi And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Vinay Kumar Mishra Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

19. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 784 of 2025 Petitioner :- Tej Pal Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

20. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 785 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sohan Pal Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Kumar Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

21. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 786 of 2025 Petitioner :- Ashok Kumar Baghel And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prem Sagar Verma,Rahul Kumar Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

22. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 789 of 2025 Petitioner :- Rajbhan Singh And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo 4 Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

23. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 790 of 2025 Petitioner :- Geeta Devi And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

24. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 791 of 2025 Petitioner :- Rajbhan Singh And 12 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

25. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 792 of 2025 Petitioner :- Indrasen Singh And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

26. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 794 of 2025 Petitioner :- Dr. Vaibhav Jaiswal And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

27. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 795 of 2025 Petitioner :- Manoj Kumar Sharma And 19 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

28. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 796 of 2025 Petitioner :- Indrabahadur Singh @ Pappu Singh And 3 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

29. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 797 of 2025 Petitioner :- Bhupendra Singh And 22 Others 5 Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

30. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 798 of 2025 Petitioner :- Vivek Jaiswal And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

31. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 799 of 2025 Petitioner :- Uday Pratap Singh And 4 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

32. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 800 of 2025 Petitioner :- Raj Bahadur And 31 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

33. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 801 of 2025 Petitioner :- Dharmendra Kumar And 5 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

34. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 802 of 2025 Petitioner :- Amar Singh And 6 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Saurabh Basu,Vaishali Rai Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

35. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 803 of 2025 Petitioner :- Shahina And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

36. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 804 of 2025 6 Petitioner :- Rakesh Kumar Ojha And 2 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Devottam Pandey Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

37. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 805 of 2025 Petitioner :- Manoj Kumar Gupta And 15 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Sanjeev Singh,Shailendra Kumar,Sheo Kinkar Singh,Suryaprakash Sharma Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

38. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 806 of 2025 Petitioner :- Subawati Devi Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Kumar Ashutosh Srivastava,Nagendra Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

39. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 807 of 2025 Petitioner :- Lokesh Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Kumar Ashutosh Srivastava,Nagendra Pratap Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

40. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 811 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sharadh Jaiswal Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

41. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 813 of 2025 Petitioner :- Raghvendra Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Saurabh Basu,Vaishali Rai Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.

42. Case :- WRIT TAX No. - 814 of 2025 Petitioner :- Sharadh Jaiswal And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Dwivedi Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C. 7 HON'BLE PIYUSH AGRAWAL,J.

1. Heard Shri Sanjeev Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner in Writ Tax No. - 723 of 2025 as well as other counsel for the petitioners in the connected cases and Shri Manish Goel, learned Additional Advocate General, assisted by Shri Kunal Ravi Singh and Shri Bipin Bihari Pandey, learned Chief Standing Counsel as well as Shri B.K. Pandey and Shri Ravi Shankar Pandey, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the State – respondents.

2. Since learned counsel for the parties submit that the issues involved in these writ petitions are similar, therefore, the same are being decided by the common order with the consent of the learned counsel for the parties. Writ Tax No. 723 of 2025 is taken as a leading case for deciding the controversy involved in these writ petitions. All the counsels for the other connected writ petitions adopt the arguments advanced by Shri Sanjeev Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner in Writ Tax No. - 723 of 2025. Writ Tax No. 723 of 2025:

3. The instant writ petition has been filed for a writ of certiorari quashing the part of para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated

06.02.2025 issued by the respondent no. 1 along with its consequential order dated 06.02.2025 issued by the respondent no. 2 as well as the impugned notification/advertisement dated

12.02.2025 issued by the respondent nos. 3 & 4 providing settlement of all the country liquor shops through e-lottery process for the excise year 2025-26, including the shop of the petitioner.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that on 06.02.2025, the respondent nos. 1 & 2 issued notification/Government Order for the excise year 2025-06 by which all the country liquor shops in the State have been put for settlement under e-lottery process. He further submits that para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated 8

06.02.2025 violets rule 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Excise (Settlement of Licenses for Retail Sale of Country Liquor) Rules, 2002, as amended from time to time, lastly, applicable from 01.04.2018, (hereinafter referred to as, 'the Rules'). He further submits that it is settled principle of law that the Government Order or circular cannot override the statutory Rules and therefore, para no. 5.11 of the Government Order dated 06.02.2025 is inconsistent to the Rules and thus, the same is liable to be quashed.

5. He further submits that para 5.11 of the said policy takes away the rights of consideration for renewal which were vested in favour of the petitioners in terms of various rules and to that extent, the policy is bad in law. He further submits that as per clause Clause

5.15.2.2(1)(ga) wherein it has been prescribed that all the stocks which are lying with the licensee shall be taken on 01.04.2025 and shall be kept in the custody of the Excise Commissioner which shall be destroyed by them under their guidance and videography, and no amount of compensation shall be payable to the licensee.

6. Per contra, learned Additional Advocate General supports the impugned Government Order and submits that now, vide Notification No. 4099/X-License-59/Country Liquor/2025-26 dated 03.03.2025, the State Government has amended Rule 5 of the Rules and therefore, the instant writ petitions are liable to be dismissed as fresh cause of action has arisen.

7. He further submits that in the absence of there being any right to carry out trade in liquor and there being a specific bar in seeking renewal by virtue of Section 36-A of the U.P. Excise Act, the claim of renewal/right to be considered for renewal based upon the Rules, is liable to be rejected.

8. He further submits that recently, the issues involved in these writ petitions have already been settled by the Lucknow Bench of this Court in a Bunch of writ petitions, the leading of which being 9 Vijay Pratap Singh & 5 Others Vs. State of U.P. & 3 Others [Writ C No. 2218 of 2025, decided on 05.03.2025).

9. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the records, this Court finds no reason to defer with the judgement passed by this Court in Vijay Pratap Singh (supra).

10. In view of the facts & circumstances of the case as well as the decision of this Court in Vijay Pratap Singh (supra), no interference of this Court is called for in these writ petitions.

11. The writ petitions lack merit and the same are hereby dismissed on the same terms as in the case of Vijay Pratap Singh (supra). Order Date :-07/03/2025 Amit Mishra AMIT KUMAR MISHRA High Court of Judicature at Allahabad