Liquor shop relocation upheld where renewal triggered distance restrictions and public interest justified residential-area regulation.

Regulation of the location of a country liquor shop in a residential area was upheld where the shop was near a newly developed residential building and complaints of nuisance and public inconvenience were raised. The Court treated renewal of the licence as a fresh grant, so the distance restriction under Rule 5(4) of the U.P. Number and Location of Excise Shops (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2008 applied. It held that public interest is a relevant consideration in controlling liquor shop location and that there is no fundamental right to trade in liquor in a manner contrary to lawful restrictions and residential convenience. The relocation direction was therefore sustained.

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Issues: Whether the direction to relocate a country liquor shop from a residential area was valid in law.

Analysis: The shop was situated close to a newly developed residential building and complaints were made regarding nuisance and public inconvenience. The renewal of the licence was treated as a fresh grant, attracting the distance restriction under Rule 5(4) of the U.P. Number and Location of Excise Shops (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2008. The Court held that public interest was a relevant and important consideration in regulating the location of a country liquor shop, and that no person has a fundamental right to carry on trade in liquor in a manner contrary to lawful restrictions and residential convenience.

Conclusion: The order directing relocation of the shop was upheld and the petition was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The challenge to the relocation direction failed because the excise authority acted within the permissible regulatory framework and in furtherance of public interest.

Ratio Decidendi: Regulation of the location of a country liquor shop in a residential area is permissible in public interest, and renewal of the licence may attract the applicable distance restrictions as a fresh grant.

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