Licensing power under excise law cannot be used to restrict lawful manufacture beyond statutory regulatory purposes.

Under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act, 1955, licence conditions and rules may regulate manufacture, the place and process of production, and the proper levy and collection of duty. They do not, absent express authority, empower the licensing framework to restrict the number of medicinal preparations or the quantities a licensed manufacturer may produce. The stated regulatory purpose is excise administration, not the prevention of misuse for prohibition objectives. Any restrictive order imposed beyond that statutory purpose is without authority of law and cannot control consideration of licence applications.

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Issues: Whether the Board of Revenue had authority under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act, 1955 and the Rules to restrict the quantum and the categories of medicinal preparations that could be manufactured by licensed manufacturers.

Analysis: Section 6 permits manufacture only under a licence and subject to prescribed terms and conditions, while Rule 84 deals with the grant of licence on satisfaction of the licensing authority. The licence form also contemplates specification of the goods and quantity. However, these provisions were read in the light of Section 19(2)(ii) and Section 19(2)(iv), which show that the rule-making power is directed to regulating the place and process of manufacture and to securing proper levy and collection of duty. The Court held that nothing in the Act, the Rules, or the licence form conferred power to limit the number of medicinal preparations or the quantities that could be legitimately manufactured, and that the impugned orders were aimed at preventing misuse for prohibition purposes rather than enforcing the excise scheme.

Conclusion: The Board had no authority to impose the restrictions contained in Exts. P4 and P5, and those limitations were without authority of law.

Final Conclusion: The writ applications succeeded, and the licensing applications were directed to be considered under the statute without being controlled by the impugned restrictive orders.

Ratio Decidendi: In the absence of express statutory authority, a licensing power under an excise law cannot be used to curtail the legitimate quantum or variety of manufacture beyond what is necessary for the regulatory purpose and the proper levy and collection of duty.

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