In the hearing of four petitions, Patna HC’s division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay has removed ‘denatured spirit’ from the intoxicant category.
and allowed the use of potable spirit in homeopathic, ayurvedic and some other medicines centers.
The division ruled that the state government has no legal authority to construct law on regulating the potable and denatured spirit and declared the provisions made in this regard in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as unconstitutional. The Patna High Court also gave permission to the transportation, production, and use of ‘denatured spirit’ in the manufacturing of paints, varnishes and other industrial items. Actually, a denatured spirit is widely used to manufacture paints and varnishes among other non-edible items.
Dr. Mohammad Anwar and Mahesh Homoeopathic Laboratories filed petitions in the high court against the state government’s rules on stopping spirit for medicinal use and while Samrat Laboratories and Shiva Laboratories had challenged the law on the denatured spirit.
Advocate Satyabir Bharti represented these four petitioners and won the case as HC gave orders in their favor.
Section 2 (40) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, enforced on October 2, 2016, the state government had brought spirit used for medicinal purposes and denatured spirit under the category of intoxicants.
