By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Nainital, 22 May: The Uttarakhand High Court has stayed the allotment of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) shops at the Parade Ground in Dalanwala and Rajpur Road, Dehradun, while hearing petitions challenging the process. The division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay today directed the Excise Commissioner’s allotment order to be kept in abeyance and sought a response from the state government. The court also instructed the District Magistrate, Dehradun, to comply with its order promptly and submit a report of the inquiry. It further ordered that the operation of both shops to remain suspended until the next date of hearing.
The Excise Commissioner and other respondents, including the opposition, have been asked to file their replies within a week.
It may be recalled that the petitions filed by Gaurav Malhotra and others contend that as previous licence holders for the year 2025–26, they had applied for renewal of the shop licence on 16 February 2026 before the District Excise Officer. However, the department allegedly rejected the application and, on the very next day, allotted the shop to another party in violation of rules. The petitioners argued that the excise policy clearly stipulates that if a shop licence is not renewed, its allotment must be done through a lottery process. The petitioners argue that this mandatory process was not followed in this case. They alleged that the Excise Commissioner ignored the rules and granted the licence to the OSD of a cabinet minister and PRO of another cabinet minister, both serving government employees, raising questions about the legality of the tender. The petitioners demanded a thorough investigation and departmental action against those responsible for the violation of the rules.
