New Delhi, April 19 -- A nine-judge constitution bench of Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgment on whether states have the power to regulate industrial alcohol, a crucial issue that the chief justice said "has confounded generations of lawyers."
The Centre argued that under the Constitution it has the power to regulate any form of alcohol unfit for human consumption. But states like Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala claimed they have exclusive authority over all intoxicating liquors, including industrial alcohol derived from rectified spirit used to produce alcoholic beverages. The bench led by CJI Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud concluded the proceedings arising from 30 appeals that challenged a 1990 SC order strip...