25-05-2025
Distilleries liable to pay full pay to excise officers deputed to their manufacturing units: Kerala HC
A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has held that private distilleries are liable to pay full pay and additional allowances of excise officers deputed to supervise manufacturing of liquor at their distilleries as cost of establishment to the State government.
The Bench led by Justice Anil K. Narendran made the observation recently while allowing the appeals filed by the State government against the ruling of a single judge's verdict that only the additional allowance and not full pay of the officers needs to be paid to the government. The single judge's order came on writ petitions filed by the private distilleries which sell their products to the the Kerala State Beverages (Manufacturing and Marketing) Corporation challenging the collection of full pay.
Senior government pleader Vinitha B. submitted that under the provisions of the Abkari Act, the Kerala Distillery and Warehouse Rules 1968, Foreign Liquor (Storage in bond) Rules 1961 and Kerala Rectified Spirit Rules 1972, the State government is authorised to depute excise officials for supervising activities and the cost for deputing such officers has to be borne by the distilleries. She also pointed out that as per the licence conditions, the distilleries are bound to pay the actual cost payable to the officer deputed. Therefore, the distilleries could not take the stand that only the charge allowance would be paid under section 53(b) of part I of Kerala Service Rules. Besides, the charge allowance was actually the one payable under Section 53(b) between the State government and its employees.
The court observed that payment of establishment cost is one of the license conditions for granting the privilege of manufacturing intoxicating liquor. The court noted that there are no permanent cadre posts created for the supervisory functions of distilleries. The officers are deployed by the government. Therefore, private distilleries cannot contend that they are liable to pay only the charge allowance for the additional duty of an officer deputed to supervise the distilleries.
