Form L-6 licence does not override separate power alcohol control requirements under the special statutory regime.

A Form L-6 licence under the Central Excise Rules authorised duty-free receipt and use of power alcohol for specified industrial purposes, but it did not override the separate statutory regime governing manufacture, disposal, transport and issue of power alcohol. Compliance with the Indian Power Alcohol Act, 1948, the rules made under it, and the incorporated U.P. excise regulations remained mandatory, including the requirement of permission from the competent authority for direct issue from a distillery. The asserted right under Article 19(1)(g) could not displace these valid regulatory controls.

---

---

Issues: Whether a licence in Form L-6 under the Central Excise Rules conferred an unrestricted right to obtain power alcohol from a distillery without complying with the permit and control requirements under the Indian Power Alcohol Act, the rules made thereunder, and the U.P. excise regulations.

Analysis: The licence under the Central Excise law only authorised receipt and use of power alcohol without payment of duty for specified industrial purposes. It did not dispense with the separate statutory regime governing manufacture, disposal, transport, and issue of power alcohol under the Indian Power Alcohol Act, 1948, and the rules framed under that Act. Those rules required compliance with the prescribed procedure, and the proviso to the relevant rule permitted issue direct from a distillery only under the permission of the competent authority. The Chapter IX U.P. excise rules incorporated by the Power Alcohol Rules were applicable, and the petitioners' reliance on Article 19(1)(g) could not override valid regulatory restrictions.

Conclusion: The licence in Form L-6 did not create an absolute right to obtain power alcohol without the required permit and compliance with the applicable control provisions. The challenge failed.

Ratio Decidendi: A licence granted under the Central Excise law for duty-free industrial use does not override independent statutory controls regulating the supply and issue of power alcohol under the special enactment and rules governing that commodity.

---