Supreme Court Clarifies Legislative Competence Over Industrial Alcohol

State of U.P. & Ors. Vs Lalta Prasad Vaish and sons (Supreme Court of India) n a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court of India addressed critical questions regarding the regulation of industrial alcohol by state legislatures. The case, State of U.P. & Ors. Vs. Lalta Prasad Vaish and Sons, emerged from the Uttar Pradesh government’s attempt to impose a licensing fee on the sale of specially denatured spirits, a form of industrial alcohol. This brought into focus two primary issues: whether “intoxicating liquors,” as defined in Entry 8 of List II of the Seventh Schedule o...