‘No serious efforts seem to have been made’, says Supreme Court in Pendency of Investigation of Excise Cases in Punjab [Read Order]

The two-judge Supreme Court Bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice M M Sundresh observed recently in a Special Leave Petition filed by Tarsem Jodhan and others that, “No serious efforts seem to have been made” in regard to the pendency of investigation in excise matters in Punjab.

In the impugned order, it was directed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana that, “We are sanguine that fair and impartial investigations shall be carried out by the State agencies to provide credibility and instill confidence in the investigating process.”

The allegation in the present special leave petition was with respect to the large scale illegal liquor manufacturing and sale in the State of Punjab.

An additional affidavit was filed on behalf of Respondent No.3 – Under Secretary to the Government of Punjab, Department of Excise & Taxation, pointing out some steps taken against the Distilleries/Bottling Plants/Breweries during 2020-21. A status Report was also filed on the respective First Information Reports (FIRs), which are 13 in number.

The Supreme Court bench observed that, “As such, we are not at all satisfied with the progress in the investigation. It appears that no serious efforts seem to have been made to reach out to the real guilty/culprits who are in business of manufacture and transportation of such illegal liquors. Cancelling the licences and/or recovery of penalties/duties is not sufficient. Even nothing has been pointed out that the penalties/duties levied are in fact paid or not.”

It was also observed that, 9 out of the 13 FIRs filed, were still under investigation.

The Department of Excise and Taxation was subsequently directed to file a detailed report on the status of prosecution, levy of duties and penalties, details of challans filed and particulars of each FIR in the remaining cases.

The lack of periodical inspection and supervision by the concerned police officers/excise department was also noted by the Supreme Court and the matter was posted for hearing on 5^th December 2022.

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