Sec 13 to 24 Chapter IV (Manufacture, Possession and Sale) The Chattisgarh Excise Act, 1915

13. Licence required for manufacture, etc., of intoxicants.—

(a) no intoxicant shall be manufactured or collected;

(b) no hemp plant, shall be cultivated;

(c) no tari-producing tree shall be tapped and no tari shall be drawn from any tree;

(d) no liquor shall be bottled for sale;

(e) no distillery of brewery shall be constructed for worked; and

(f) no person shall use, keep or have in his-possession any materials, still, utensil, implement or apparatus whatsoever for the purpose of manufacturing any intoxicant other than tari,

except under the authority and subject to the terms and conditions of a licence granted in that behalf:

Provided that the State Government may, by notification declare that the provisions of this section shall not apply, in any area specified in this behalf, to the tapping of tari-producing trees, or to the drawing of tari subject to such conditions as it may prescribe;

Provided further that the State Government may, by notification, declare that the provisions of this section shall, not apply in such areas as may be specified in this behalf to the manufacture of liquor for home consumption, subject to such condition as it may prescribe.

14. Establishment or licensing of distilleries and warehouses.—

The Excise Commissioner may—

(a) establish a distillery in which spirit may be manufactured under a licence granted under Section T3 on such conditions as the State Government may impose;

(b) discontinue any such distillery;

(c) licence, on such conditions as the State Government may impose, the construction and working of a distillery or brewery;

(d) establish or licence a warehouse, wherein any intoxicant may be deposited and kept without payment of duty, but subject to payment of such fee as the State Government may direct; and

(e) discontinue any such warehouse.

15. Payment of duty on removal from distillery, brewery or place of storage.^—

Without the sanction of the State Government no intoxicant shall be removed from any distillery, brewery, warehouse, or other place of storage established or licensed under this Act unless the duty (if any) payable under Chapter V, has been paid or a bond has been executed for the payment thereof.

16. Possession of intoxicants generally.—

(1) The State Government may, by notification, prescribe a limit of quantity for the possession of any intoxicant:

Provided that different limits may be prescribed for different qualities of the same article.

(2) No person shall have in his possession any quantity of any intoxicant in excess of the limit prescribed under sub-section (1), except under the authority and in accordance with the terms and conditions of—

(a) a licence for. the manufacture, cultivation, collection, sale, or supply of such intoxicant, or

(b) a pass for the import, export or transport of such intoxicant, or

(c) a permit granted under this Act,

(3) Sub-section (2) shall not apply to any foreign liquor—

(a) which is in the possession of any common carrier or warehouseman as such.

(b) omitted

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing sub-sections, the State Government may, by notification, prohibit the possession by any person or class of persons, either in the State or in any specified area, of any intoxicant, either absolutely, or subject to such conditions as it may prescribe.

HCS) On the occasion of religious festivals of Scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled Areas, no "pass" shall be required under clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 16 of the Act, for the transportation of "landa" and "Handiya" made from "rice" or "millet" as the case may be, and "out-still liquor" made from "mahua" subject to a maximum quantity of 5 litres, for household consumption within the Scheduled area, by the member(s) of the Scheduled Tribe(s) of the said Scheduled Area.]

17. Licence required for sale c* intoxicant.—

(1) No intoxicant shall be sold except under the authority and subject to the terms and conditions of licence granted in that behalf:

Provided that—

(a) a person having the right to the tari drawn from any tree may sell such tari without a licence to a person licensed to manufacture or sell tari under this Act;

(b) a person under Section 13 to cultivate the hemp plant may sell without a licence those portions of the plant from which the intoxicating drug is manufactured or produced to any person licensed under this Act to deal in the same, or to any officer whom the Excise Commissioner may prescribe; and

(c) nothing in this section shall apply to the sale of any foreign liquor lawfully procured by any person for his private use and sold by him or on his behalf or on behalf of his representatives interest upon his quitting a station or after his decease.

(2) On such conditions as the Excise Commissioner may determine, a licence for sale under the Excise Law for the time being in force in other States or Union territories may be deemed to be licence granted in that behalf under this Act.

(3) Sale or supply of liquor.—

The sale of liquor shall be permitted only through licensed liquor vends, which shall not be located within 500 meters radial distance from the outer range of the National or "State Highway or Service Lane along such highway and such liquor vends shall neither be directly visible nor accessible from such National or State Highway^{4 5 6} [:]

(1. Added by C.G. Act No. 10 of 2017, w.e.f. 17-8-2017.)

(2. Substituted by C.G.’ Act No. 4 of 2020, w.e.f. 21-4-2020, for the punctuation semi colon)

( 3. Inserted by C.G. Act No. 4 of 2020, w.e.f. 21-4-2020.)

³[Provided that the above provision shall not be applicable for those National /State Highways which pass within any municipal area;]

(b) Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any Court, Tribunal or Authority, hotels having a license shall be entitled to engage in the supply of liquor to members, guests or other persons for consumption of such liquor within the premises of such hotels, irrespective of whether such hotel is located on or near any National or State highway;

(c) Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any Court, Tribunal or Authority, any license issued to any hotel and common drinking house for the sale of liquor shall be deemed to have been always issued for the supply of liquor and all relevant provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder shall continue to apply as they did for sale of liquor.

Explanation.—

For the removal of doubt, it is hereby clarified that all taxes, duties, cess or other levies as applicable to sale of liquor shall apply to supply of liquor unless otherwise specified in this Act or any other Act, rule or notification made thereunder.]

18. Power to grant lease of right to manufacture, etc.—

(1) The State Government may lease to any person, on such conditions and for such period as it may think fit, the right—

(a) of manufacturing, or of supplying by wholesale or of both, or

(b) of selling by wholesale or by retail, or

(c) of manufacturing or of supplying by wholesale, or of both, and selling by retail,

any liquor or intoxicating drug within any specified area.

(2) The licensing authority may grant to a lessee under sub-section (1) a licence in the terms of his lease; and when there is no condition in the lease which prohibits sub-letting, may, on the application of the lessee, grant a licence to any sub-lessee approved by such authority.

^IS-A. Power to grant exclusive right for manufacture, sale, etc.—

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Act, the State Government may by general or special order grant exclusive right for the manufacture, import, export, transport, storage, purchase, wholesale, retail sale or collection of any intoxicant, denatured spirituous preparations or hemp to any Corporation wholly owned and controlled by the State Government.

(2) For the aforesaid purpose, the Excise Commissioner, subject to the rules made by the State Government, may grant necessary licence to the Corporation.

(3) For the aforesaid purposes, the Corporation, after receiving such licence, may establish its units, branches, depot and shops at such places and subject to such conditions as the Excise Commissioner may specify.]

19. Lessee's permission to draw tari.—

Where a right of manufacturing tari has been leased under Section 18, the State Government may declare that the written permission of the lessee to draw tari shall have the same force and effect as a licence from the Collector for that purpose.

20. Manufacture and sale of liquor in Military Cantonments.—

Within the limits of any Military Cantonment, and within such distance from those limits as the Central Government in. any case may prescribe, no licence for the retail sale of liquor shall be granted except with the knowledge and consent of the Commanding Officer.

21. Duties of licensees with regard to measurement and testing.—

Every person who manufactures or sells any intoxicant under a licence granted under this Act shall be bound—

(a) to supply himself with such-measures, weights and instruments as the Excise Commissioner may prescribe and to keep the same in good condition on the licensed premises; and

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

22. Prohibition of employment of male persons under the age of twenty- one years and of women.—

No person who is licensed to sell intoxicants for consumption on his premises shall, during the hours in which such premises are kept open for business, employ, or permit to be employed either with or without remuneration, any male person under the age of twenty-one years or any woman in any part of such premises in which such intoxicant is consumed by the public.

23. Prohibition of sale of liquor intoxicating drug to persons under the age of twenty-one years.—

No person who is licensed to sell intoxicants shall sell of deliver any liquor or intoxicating drug to any person apparently under the age of twenty-one years whether for consumption by such person or by another person or whether for consumption on or off the premises of such vendor.

23-A. Prohibition of Advertisements relating to liquor.—

(1) In this section, "advertisement" includes—

(a) any notice, circular, label, wrapper or other documents;

(b) any announcement made orally or by any means of producing or transmitting light, sound or smoke;

(c) any exhibition by means of slide or film exhibited on the screen in a cinema licensed under the Chhattisgarh Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1952 (No. 17 of 1952) or at any other place of entertainment.

(2) Whoever prints or publishes or causes to be printed or published in any newspaper, book, leaflet, booklet or any other single or periodical publication or otherwise displays or distributes or causes or permits to be displayed or distributed any advertisement or other matter commending, soliciting the use of, or offering or purporting to commending, soliciting the use of, or commending any liquor shall be punished for every such offence with imprisonment which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees or with both.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in sub-section (4), nothing in sub-section (2) shall apply to—

(a) catalogues or price-lists to be displayed on liquor vends in Chhattisgarh in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;

(b) any advertisement or other matter contained in any newspaper, book, leaf-let, booklet or other publication printed and published outside Chhattisgarh;

(c) any advertisements or other matter contained in any newspaper printed and published in Chhattisgarh before such date as the State Government may, by notification, specify; and

(d) any other advertisement or matter which the State Government may, by notification, generally or specially exempt from the operation of this section.

24. Closing of shops for the sake of public peace.—

(1) The District Magistrate, by notice in writing to the licensee, may require, that any shops in which any intoxicant is sold shall be closed at such times or for such period as he may think necessary for the preservation of the public peace.

(2) If a riot or unlawful assembly is apprehended or occurs in the vicinity of any shop, a Magistrate of any class, who is present, may require such shop to be kept closed for such period as he may think necessary :

Provided that, when any such riot or unlawful assembly occurs, a licensee shall, in the absence of the Magistrate, close his shop without any order.

(3) When any Magistrate issues an order under sub-section (2), he shall forthwith inform the Collector of his action and his reasons thereof.