Full Judgment Text
2026:BHC-NAG:3206-DB
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH AT NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION No. 1259 /201 6
M/s. Purti Power & Sugar Ltd.
a Limited Company incorporated under the
Companies Act 1956 having its Registered
nd
office at 2 Floor, Khadi Gramodyog
Building, Gandhisagar Mahal, Nagpur and
manufacturing unit at Khursapar (Bela),
Taluka Umred, District Nagpur.
PETITIONER
Vs.
1. The State of Maharashtra,
through Principal Secretary (State Excise),
Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032
: RESPONDENTS
2. The Commissioner of State Excise,
Maharashtra State, Old Custom House,
Mumbai – 400 023
3. The Collector of Nagpur,
State Excise Department, District Nagpur
Mr.B.G. Kulkarni, Adv. for petitioner
Mrs. R.V. Sharma, AGP for Respondents / State
CORAM: ANIL L. PANSARE AND
NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, JJ .
th
DATED : 24 FEBRUARY, 2026
ORAL JUDGMENT (PER : NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, J.)
1. Parties through their counsel.
2. It is not in dispute that the question involved in these
Petitions is covered by the Judgment passed by the Division Bench of this
Court in various Writ Petitions including Writ Petition No. 8548 of 2004
in the case of M/s. Arss Biofuel Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors.
decided on 13th December, 2017.
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3. In the circumstances, for the reasons stated in the judgment
passed in the case of M/s. Arss Biofuel Pvt. Ltd. (supra) these Writ
Petitions are disposed of in terms of the order which reads thus :
“(a) The Bombay Denatured Spirit Rules, 1959 to the extent that
they regulate the possession, use, sale, import, export and transport of
denatured spirit viz. Rules 23 to 62 are ultra vires and unconstitutional
and are struck down.
(b) There shall be no licence required under the Maharashtra
Prohibition Act for sale, purchase, transport, possession, storage,
dehydration, import and export of denatured spirit.
(c) We hereby clarify that the power of the State Government in
the case of rectified spirit supplied for industrial purposes is only to see
and ensure that rectified spirit, whether in the course of its manufacture
or after its manufacture, is not diverted or misused for potable purpose.
The State can make necessary regulations requiring the industry to
submit periodical statements of raw material and the finished product
(rectified spirits) and is entitled to verify their correctness.
(d) The Writ Petitions are made absolute on the above terms
with no order as to costs.”
4. Rule made absolute in the aforesaid terms.
(NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, J.) (ANIL L. PANSARE, J.)
MP Deshpande
Signed by: Mr. M.P. Deshpande
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 24/02/2026 18:39:57
1 20-wp-1259-2016 - J.odt
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH AT NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION No. 1259 /201 6
M/s. Purti Power & Sugar Ltd.
a Limited Company incorporated under the
Companies Act 1956 having its Registered
nd
office at 2 Floor, Khadi Gramodyog
Building, Gandhisagar Mahal, Nagpur and
manufacturing unit at Khursapar (Bela),
Taluka Umred, District Nagpur.
PETITIONER
Vs.
1. The State of Maharashtra,
through Principal Secretary (State Excise),
Mantralaya, Mumbai – 400 032
: RESPONDENTS
2. The Commissioner of State Excise,
Maharashtra State, Old Custom House,
Mumbai – 400 023
3. The Collector of Nagpur,
State Excise Department, District Nagpur
Mr.B.G. Kulkarni, Adv. for petitioner
Mrs. R.V. Sharma, AGP for Respondents / State
CORAM: ANIL L. PANSARE AND
NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, JJ .
th
DATED : 24 FEBRUARY, 2026
ORAL JUDGMENT (PER : NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, J.)
1. Parties through their counsel.
2. It is not in dispute that the question involved in these
Petitions is covered by the Judgment passed by the Division Bench of this
Court in various Writ Petitions including Writ Petition No. 8548 of 2004
in the case of M/s. Arss Biofuel Pvt. Ltd. vs. State of Maharashtra and Ors.
decided on 13th December, 2017.
2 20-wp-1259-2016 - J.odt
3. In the circumstances, for the reasons stated in the judgment
passed in the case of M/s. Arss Biofuel Pvt. Ltd. (supra) these Writ
Petitions are disposed of in terms of the order which reads thus :
“(a) The Bombay Denatured Spirit Rules, 1959 to the extent that
they regulate the possession, use, sale, import, export and transport of
denatured spirit viz. Rules 23 to 62 are ultra vires and unconstitutional
and are struck down.
(b) There shall be no licence required under the Maharashtra
Prohibition Act for sale, purchase, transport, possession, storage,
dehydration, import and export of denatured spirit.
(c) We hereby clarify that the power of the State Government in
the case of rectified spirit supplied for industrial purposes is only to see
and ensure that rectified spirit, whether in the course of its manufacture
or after its manufacture, is not diverted or misused for potable purpose.
The State can make necessary regulations requiring the industry to
submit periodical statements of raw material and the finished product
(rectified spirits) and is entitled to verify their correctness.
(d) The Writ Petitions are made absolute on the above terms
with no order as to costs.”
4. Rule made absolute in the aforesaid terms.
(NIVEDITA P. MEHTA, J.) (ANIL L. PANSARE, J.)
MP Deshpande
Signed by: Mr. M.P. Deshpande
Designation: PA To Honourable Judge
Date: 24/02/2026 18:39:57