Legal battle begins on fresh liquor licences

• Petitioners seek an interim order for formulating objective criteria for selecting license applicants

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda  

A Fundamental Rights petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an order restraining authorities including Excise Department from issuing any fresh excise licences to any applicant in violation of the provisions of the Excise Ordinance.  

The two members of the Sri Lanka Licensees Association filed this petition against the Commissioner General of Excise, several other officers of the Excise Department, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, Director General of the Department of Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance and several others.  

The petitioners Dhananjaya Gunasekera and Nishantha Lakshman maintained that arbitrary and discriminatory grant of new liquor licences solely based on political motivations, political pressure or totally irrelevant factors.  

They further stated that multiple liquor licences have been granted to several private individuals and companies without following any rational, reasonable, objective, fair, and transparent mechanism.  

The petitioners are further seeking an interim order directing the authorities to forthwith formulate and frame rational and reasonable objective or scientific criteria for the selection of applicants when issuing new retail excise liquor licences.  

Counsel Nilshantha Sirimanne with Deshara Goonetilleke Instructed by Amila Kumara appeared for the petitioners.   

• Multiple liquor licences have been granted to several private individuals and companies