Bombay HC refuses urgent hearing to Sameer Wankhede plea against liquor licence cancellation

Thane Collector Rajesh Narvekar earlier this month cancelled the licence of the bar in Vashi owned by Wankhede under the Bombay Prohibition Act, citing he had obtained it in 1997 when he was underaged to do so.

A criminal case was also registered by Kopari police station against him for allegedly falsifying his age to obtain a liquor licence and also questioned the licence’s cancellation by the Maharashtra government.

An initial investigation by the local excise revealed that on the day Wankhede was granted a licence for a bar and restaurant on October 27, 1997, he was only 17, way below the stipulated age of 21.

Based on the findings, the excise department sent a letter to the Thane collector and Thane excise superintendent to take action.

The plea filed by Wankhede challenged an oral order passed by the Commissioner of State Excise refusing to stay the order of February 1 passed by Thane Collector.

Nawab Malik has been continuously attacking Sameer Wankhede since the cruise drug bust case, in which many, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan, were arrested. Wankhede had earlier arrested Malik’s son-in-law in a narcotics case.

The plea filed Monday through advocate Vishal Thadani sought the impugned order as violative of the principles of natural justice and petitioner’s fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 21 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

“The action has been initiated under political pressure and personal vendetta of respondent Malik against the Petitioner as his son-in-law had been arrested by the Petitioner,” the plea said.

The petition also said that Foreign Liquor (FL) licence is granted for one year at a time and is an annual contract between the individual and the state. Hence the licence granted in 1997 came to an end on March 31, 1998. “The petitioner turned 18 on December 14, 1997 and thereafter the licence has been renewed for 23 years every year. Contract with a minor is not void but is voidable at the instance of the minor, after he attains the age of majority but after completion of 18 years, the petitioner has renewed the licence every year for the past 23 years,” the plea said.

After the matter came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices Gautam S Patel and Madhav J Jamdar, the judges pulled up the court staff for keeping a plea which was filed Monday on Tuesday’s supplementary board and remarked, “Does this system work for a few people? We do not want staff doing this ever again. Just because some other poor litigant is there, he will wait and because some influential person is here, will the matter be listed on the supplementary board? What is a grave urgency, what heavens will fall if we don’t grant urgent hearing? Just because these two gentlemen are having war in the media, we cannot grant urgent hearing,” the bench said.

The petitioner is likely to seek circulation of the matter Wednesday.