Excise licence renewal cannot be ordered without statutory fee payment when the insolvency forum lacks regulatory power.

Renewal of a State excise licence under the Telangana Excise Act, 1968 and the Telangana Distillery (Manufacture of Spirits) Rules, 2006 remained subject to statutory conditions, including payment of the prescribed renewal fee. The scheme did not create an automatic right of renewal or permit exemption from that fee. Because excise licensing falls within the State's exclusive regulatory domain, the insolvency forum could not direct renewal as if exercising administrative control over the excise authorities. The direction to renew the licence without insisting on renewal fee was therefore beyond jurisdiction and was set aside.

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Issues: Whether the adjudicating authority could direct renewal of an excise licence without insisting on payment of renewal fee and whether such direction was beyond its jurisdiction under the insolvency framework.

Analysis: The dispute concerned renewal of a State excise licence, a subject falling within the State List under Article 246 read with Entry 8 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The governing special law, namely the Telangana Excise Act, 1968, together with the Telangana Distillery (Manufacture of Spirits) Rules, 2006, regulates grant and renewal of excise licences and makes renewal contingent upon compliance with the prescribed statutory conditions, including payment of the applicable fee. The scheme of the Act and Rules does not create an automatic right of renewal or authorise exemption from renewal fee. The impugned direction, therefore, travelled beyond the adjudicating authority's jurisdiction under the insolvency law, since renewal of an excise licence lies within the exclusive regulatory domain of the State authorities and not within the power of the insolvency forum to mandate as if exercising administrative or judicial review over a State excise decision.

Conclusion: The direction to renew the excise licence without insisting on renewal fee was unsustainable and was set aside.

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