Tripura faces legal setbacks; HC fines government over arbitrary liquor license cancellations
Guwahati: The Tripura government has faced a series of legal defeats in courts, from the Supreme Court to lower courts.
In many cases, rulings went against the state, and fines were imposed.
Experts say these outcomes happened because of negligence, poor work, and sometimes questionable conduct by government lawyers.
Some lawyers representing the state were reportedly earlier working for the opposing parties in the same cases, raising concerns about conflicts of interest. Even the new Advocate General’s name has been mentioned in this issue.
The issue resurfaced after the Tripura High Court ruled against the state in a case about liquor license cancellations.
A few days earlier, the government had lost a similar case on a bar license near Rabindra Bhavan in Agartala.
In the latest judgment, the Division Bench of Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice SD Purkayastha fined the government Rs. 1.5 lakh, with Rs. 50,000 each to three petitioners.
The Bench criticized the government for acting arbitrarily and handling the case poorly.
The case involved three foreign liquor shop tenders in Dhalai and West Tripura in 2023 and 2024.
The highest bidders were denied licenses after the government suddenly cancelled all three tenders without valid reasons.
The petitioners filed writ petitions challenging the cancellations. The state’s lawyers could not justify their actions, while petitioners said they had already invested in infrastructure, expecting the licenses.
The High Court cancelled the government’s orders, calling them arbitrary, unreasonable, and baseless.
The Court said the actions violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law. Petitioners can also seek further compensation through civil suits.
The petitioners were represented by senior advocate Purushottam Roy Barman, along with advocates Samarjit Bhattacharjee, Kaushik Nath, and Dipjyoti Pal.
This verdict adds to a growing number of legal losses for the Tripura government, showing lapses in its legal handling and lack of accountability.