Licence cancellation upheld for unexplained liquor stock discrepancy and failure to reconcile seized stock with records.

Cancellation of a country-made liquor retail licence was upheld where seizure of liquor stock could not be reconciled with the stock register. The record showed nil or zero stock for the earlier period, while inspection found substantial excess stock on 26.4.2011. Because the petitioner admitted seizure of the liquor and failed to explain the discrepancy, the court found the cancellation based on an unexplained stock mismatch and no apparent error in the impugned order. The writ petition was rejected and the cancellation sustained.

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Issues: Whether the cancellation of the country-made liquor retail licence was justified on the basis of seizure of liquor stock that could not be reconciled with the stock register.

Analysis: The stock register showed nil or zero stock for the earlier period, while the checking on 26.4.2011 found substantial quantities of country-made liquor in excess of the recorded balance. The petitioner admitted seizure of the liquor and failed to explain the availability of the excess stock. On these facts, the cancellation of the licence was founded on an unexplained stock discrepancy and was not shown to suffer from any apparent error.

Conclusion: The cancellation of the licence was upheld and the challenge to it was rejected.

Final Conclusion: The writ petition failed, and the impugned cancellation order was sustained.

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