Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday made it clear there is no provision in the Constitution for reservation in the allotment of liquor retail outlets. The court also said the existing reservation followed by the state would also go as it was not in tune with the provisions of law.
The HC’s observations gained significance in the backdrop of the state government already allotting outlets to applicants through draw of lots. It reserved 15 per cent shops to the Gouda community, 10 per cent for Scheduled Castes and five per cent to Scheduled Tribes. The court refused to stay the GO fixing the reservations for these categories.
Significantly, when the state’s decision to reserve the outlets was challenged before a single bench, the court heard the matter and kept the judgment pending. The government took advantage of this and went ahead with the allotment of shops.
Meanwhile, Telangana Republican Party filed a PIL claiming the percentage of reservation fixed for SCs and STs was meagre as compared to their population sizes. The petitioners wanted reservations on pro-rata basis which they said should be 15.45 per cent for SCs and 9.08 per cent for STs.
The division bench of Chief Justice Satish Sharma and Justice Rajasheker Reddy felt the existing percentage of reservation provided by the Telangana government for Gouds, SCs and STs was also not in consonance with the law. The government, though, has been “very kind enough to allocate such a percentage of liquor shops to these segments of the population.”
Chief Justice Sharma asked counsel for petitioner to show the provision of law, if any, which enabled the government to provide such reservations. The case was adjourned for a month as counsel for petitioner sought time to submit further contentions.
