SC suspends gazette issued which increased annual excise licence fees

• The licence fee (excluding Palmyra arrack) was raised from Rs.1Mn to Rs. 25Mn

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

The Supreme Court yesterday issued an interim order preventing the operation of the gazette notification issued by the previous government, which increased the annual excise licence fees. 

The Supreme Court’s three-judge bench, comprising Justices H. M. D. Nawaz, Kumudini Wickramasinghe, and Priyantha Fernando, issued this order after granting leave to proceed with a Fundamental Rights petition filed by the Sri Lanka Liquor Licensees Association.

The interim order suspends the operation of Gazette Notification No. 1/2024, which was issued by former President Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Minister of Finance. According to the gazette, the distillery licence fee (excluding Palmyra arrack) was increased from Rs. 1 million to Rs. 25 million, while the licence fee for Palmyra arrack was raised from Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 5 million.

The petitioners alleged that Gazette Notification No. 1/2024 prompted an unreasonable increase in the annual fee for liquor licences, raising it to Rs. 25 million. They filed the petition claiming that this significant increase caused them severe injustice and violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

The petitioners further requested the Court to direct the authorities to impose levies on liquor licences in accordance with the gazette notification issued in 2017.