74. Measures, weights and testing instruments.-

Every person who manufactures or sells any liquor under a license granted under this Act shall be bound-

(a) to keep such measures, weights and instruments as the Financial Commissioner may prescribe, and to keep the same in good condition; and

(b) on the requisition of any Excise Officer, duly empowered by the Collector in that behalf, at any time, to measure, weigh or test any liquor in his possession in such manner as the said Excise Officer may require.

75. Power to exempt.-

The State Government may, by notification, either wholly or partially and subject to such conditions as it may think fit, exempt any liquor from all or any of the provisions of this Act.

76. Delegation of powers.-

(1) The State Government may, by notification, delegate to the Financial Commissioner any of its powers under this Act, except the powers conferred by sections 5,6,8,9,12,15,16,36,75 and 80.

(2) The State Government may, by notification, permit the delegation by the Financial Commissioner or Collector to any person or class of persons specified in such notification of any powers conferred on them by this Act.

77. Power to regulate advertisement.-

No advertisement, direct or surrogate, shall be made for promoting consumption of liquor.

78. Establishment of check posts or barriers.-

The Financial Commissioner may, by notification, establish check posts or barriers at such places as it thinks fit, for prevention and checking of illegal transport of liquor by any means and for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

79. Protection of action taken in good faith.-

No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie in any court against the State Government or any officer of the State Government or any other person exercising any power or discharging any functions or performing any duties under this Act, for anything done or ordered to be done or intended to be done in good faith under this Act or any rules or order made thereunder.

80. Powers of the State Government to make rules.-

(1) Except as otherwise provided in section 81, the State Government may, by notification, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.

(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provision, the State Government may make rules,-

(a) to provide for the powers and duties of Excise Officer;

(b) to permit delegation of powers by the Financial Commissioner or the Collector;

(c) to provide for the time and manner of presenting appeals and the procedure for prosecuting and dealing with appeals;

(d) regulating import, export, transport, manufacture, collection, possession supply or storage of any liquor, molasses or excise bottle and wholesale or retail sale of any liquor;

(e) regulating the time, place and manner of payment of Excise duty or countervailing dutyand taking of security for its due payment;

(f) providing for grant of award to Excise Officer and informers;

(g) regulating the power of Excise Officers to summon witnesses;

(h) curbing activities of boot-leggers who distill, manufacture, store, import, export, transport, sell or distribute any liquor in contravention of any provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(i) regulating the periods and localities for which, and the persons, or classes of persons, to whom, licenses, permits and passes for the vend by wholesale or by retail of any liquor may be granted and regulating the number of such licenses which may be granted in any local area;

(j) providing for the procedure to be followed and the matters to be ascertained before any license is granted for the retail vend of liquor for consumption on the premises;

(k) prohibiting the printing, publishing or otherwise displaying or distributing any advertisement or other matter commending or soliciting the use of, or offering any liquor calculated to encourage or incite any individual or class or classes of individuals or the public generally to commit an offence under this Act, or to commit a breach or evade the provisions of any rule or order made thereunder, or the conditions of any license, permit or pass obtained thereunder;

(l) prohibiting within the State the circulation, distribution or sale of any newspaper, book, leaflet, booklet, or other publication printed and published outside the State which contains any advertisement or matter of the nature described in clause (k);

(m) declaring any newspaper, book, leaflet, booklet, or other publication wherever printed or published, containing any advertisement or matter of the nature described in clause (k) to be forfeited to the State Government; and

(n) implementing generally the policy of prohibition.

(3) Every rule made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of not less than ten days, which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, the Assembly makes any modification in the rule or decides that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be, so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.

81. Powers of Financial Commissioner to make rules.-

The Financial Commissioner may, by notification, make rules-

(a) regulating the manufacture, supply, storage or sale of any liquor including the character, erection, alteration, repair, inspection, supervision, management and control of any place for the manufacture, supply, storage or sale of such article and the fittings, implements, apparatus and registers to be maintained therein;

(b) regulating the bottling of liquor for purposes of sale;

(c) regulating the deposit of any liquor in a warehouse and the removal of any liquor from any warehouse or distillery, or brewery or winery;

(d) providing for the scale of fees or the manner of fixing the fees payable in respect of any license, permit or pass, or in respect of the storing of any liquor;

(e) regulating the time, place and manner of payment of any fee;

(f) providing for the authority by whom, the restrictions under which and the conditions on which, any license, permit or pass may be granted, which may include-

(i) the prohibition of the admixture with any liquor of any substance deemed to be noxious or objectionable;

(ii) the regulation or prohibition of the reduction of liquor by a licensed manufacturer or licensed vendor from a higher to a lower strength;

(iii)  the fixing of the strength, or price below or above which any liquor may not be sold, supplied or possessed;

(iv) the prohibition of sale of any liquor, except for cash;

(v) the fixing of the days and hours during which any licensed premises may or may not be kept open, and the closure of such premises on special occasions; 

(vi) the specification of the nature of the premises in which any liquor may be sold, and the notices to be exposed at such premises;

(vii) the form of the accounts to be maintained and the returns to be submitted by license holders;

(viii) the prohibition or regulation of the transfer of licenses;

(ix) declaring the process by which spirit shall be denatured;

(x) causing spirit to be denatured through the agency or under the supervision of its own officers; and

(xi) ascertaining whether such spirit has been denatured;

(g) providing for the destruction or other disposal of any liquor deemed to be unfit for human consumption or use;

(h) regulating the disposal of confiscated articles; and

(i) providing for the amount of security to be deposited by holders of leases, licenses, permits or passes for the performance of the conditions of the same.

82. Repeal and savings.-

(1) Except the provisions contained in section 1, clauses (3), (5), (6), (6-b), (9), (10), (11), (12), (12-a), (14), (16), (19) and (21) of section 3 and sections 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33-A, 58, 59 and 60 of the Punjab Excise Act, 1914 (Punjab Act No. 1 of 1914), (hereinafter called the ‘said Act’) as in force by virtue of section 88 of the Punjab Re-organization Act, 1966 (Act No. 31 of 1966) in the areas added to Himachal Pradesh under section 5 thereof and as applied to the areas which comprised Himachal Pradesh immediately before the 1st day of November, 1966, by virtue of the Himachal Pradesh (Application of Laws) Order, 1948 and the Bilaspur (Application of Laws) Order, 1949, all other provisions of the said Act are hereby repealed:

Provided that the repeal of these provisions of the said Act shall not affect,-

(a) any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the said Act; or

(b) any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence committed against the said Act; or

(c) any investigation, legal proceeding or remedy in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, penalty, forfeiture or punishment as aforesaid; and any such investigation, legal proceedings or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced and

any such penalty, forfeiture or punishment may be imposed as if the provisions of the said Act had not been repealed:

Provided further that anything done or any action taken, including any appointment or delegation made, notification, order or directions issued, rule  made, license granted, duty levied, license fee or other fee imposed, under the repealed provisions of the said Act shall, in so far as it is not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act and such appointment, delegation, notification, order, direction, rules, license, duty, license fee or other fee shall continue to be in force accordingly until superseded.

(2) For carrying out the purposes of the un-repealed provisions of the said Act, the relevant provisions of this Act relating to, -

(i) definitions,

(ii) establishment, control, powers and duties of officers,

(iii) appeals and revision,

(iv) delegation of powers, and

(v) establishment of check posts or barriers,

subject to the unrepealed provisions of the said Act, shall apply mutatis mutandis.