The Bombay Rectified Spirit Rules, 1951

In these rules, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-

(a) “Act” means the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, (Bom. XXV of 1949);

(aa) “duty-free rectified spirit” means rectified spirit in respect of which any person or institution or museum or picture gallery has been exempted from payment of excise duty under 3 [clause (dl) of sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act];

(b) “Form” means a form appended to these rules;

(bb) “Inspector of Prohibition and Excise’ includes a District Inspector or SubInspector of Prohibition and Excise;

(c) “licenced” means a licence granted under these rules;

(d) “licensed” premises” means premises in respect of which a licence is granted;

(e) “licensee” means a person who has been granted a licence;

(f) “pass” means a pass granted under these rules;

(g) “rectified spirit” includes absolute alcohol;

(h) 4 * * *

5[i) “sale licence” means a licence for the sale of rectified spirit granted under rules 26 and 38;

(j) “retail sale” means sale under a licence for the retail sale of rectified spirit granted under rule 26;

(k) “wholesale sale” means sale under a licence for the wholesale sale of rectified spirit granted under rule 38.]

Words and expressions not defined in these rules shall have the meaning respectively assigned to them in the Act.

Any person desiring to possess and use rectified spirit for any bona fide medicinal, industrial, scientific, educational, 1 [pathological] or any other similar purpose shall make an application for a licence to the Collector or any officer duly authorized to grant licences in that behalf.

6[“Provided that an application for a quota of Rectified Spirit exceeding 18,000 bulk litres per annum, shall be accompanied by a challan evidencing payment of a fee of Rs. 10”].

The application shall contain the following particulars, namely:

(1) Name and address of the applicant;

(2) Place where the rectified spirit will be kept and used;

(3) Quantity of rectified spirit to be used 2 [in any three calendar months/six months];

(4) Specific purpose for which rectified spirit is required and the use it will be put to; 3 [and, where the applicant desires to use rectified spirit for the manufacture of medicinal preparations which are drugs within the meaning of the Drugs Act, 1940, whether he holds a licence under that Act for manufacturing the same and if so, the number and date of such licence;]

(5) Whether the applicant held any rectified spirit permit in the year immediately before the date of the application and if so, the number of the permit and the quantity sanctioned;

(6) The period for which the licence is required;

(7) Registration number of the applicant if he is a registered medical practitioner.

On receipt of the application under rule 4-

4 [(a) the Collector may grant a licence in Form R.S.I. for a quantity not exceeding 2 [fifteen/thirty bottles for any three calendar months/six months] of Rectified Spirit in the case of an applicant who is a Registered Medical Practitioner and for a quantity not exceeding 2[thirty/sixty bottles for any three calendar months/six months] of Rectified Spirit in the case of an applicant who is a Pathologist. Explanation :- A bottle means a bottle having capacity of 750 millilitres]

(b) if the applicant is any other person or if the applicant being a registered medical practitioner 5 [or pathologist] has applied for the quantity of rectified spirit exceeding that specified in clause (a) the Collector or the authorised officer shall make such inquiries as he deems necessary and if he is satisfied that there is no objection to grant the applicant the licence applied, for, he may grant him a licence in Form R.S.II.

A licence under sub-rule (1) may be granted 1[on payment of the annual fees 3[(inclusive of consideration)] specified below:- ]

“ [TABLE

10[(a) For a licence in form RS-I. . . . . . . 50.00

(b) For a Licence in form RS-II where the quantity of rectified spirit to be possessed and used per quarter,-

(i) does not exceeds 6 bottles each having capacity of 750 millilitres.  -   Rs. 25.00

(ii) exceeds 6 bottles each of the capacity of 750 milli litres but does not exceed 25 bulk litres.  -   Rs. 200.00

(iii) exceeds 25 bulk litres but does not exceeds 225 bulk litres  - Rs. 400.00

(iv) exceeds 225 bulk litres but does not exceeds 900 bulk litres   -  Rs. 1,000.00

(v) exceeds 900 bulk litres but does not exceeds 4,500 bulk litres   -  Rs. 2,000.00

(c) For a licence in Form R.S.II where the quantity of rectified spirit to be possessed and used per annum,---

(i) exceeds 18,000 bulk litres but does not exceeds 50,000 bulk litres. - Rs. 10,000.00

(ii) exceeds 50,000 bulk litres but does not exceeds 1,00,000 bulk litres. - Rs.  20,000.00

(iii) exceeds 1,00,000 bulk litres but does not exceeds 5,00,000 bulk litres.  -  Rs. 50,000.00

(iv) exceeds 5,00,000 bulk litres but does not exceeds 10,00,000 bulk litres.  - Rs.  60,000.00

(v) exceeds 10,00,000 bulk litres but does not exceeds 20,00,000 bulk litres.  - Rs. 70,000.00

(vi) exceeds 20,00,000 bulk litres   - Rs. 75,000.00] ”

4 [ x x x x]

5 [Provided that for the purpose of charging the fee specified in 6 [this sub-rule] the fraction of a year shall be reckoned as one complete year.]

No licence in Form R.S.I or R.S.II shall be granted for a period exceeding one year at a time and in no case shall such period extend beyond 31st March next following the date of the commencement of the licence: 1

[Provided that-

(a) a licence in 9 [From R.S.I; or]

(b) a licence in Form R.S. II, 1 [issued to a registered medical practitioner, pathologist or any other person in charge of a Government, Municipal, Zilla Parishad or Educational Institution or in charge of a charitable hospital or dispensary or] for medicinal, scientific or educational purpose or for the purpose of preservation of specimens of natural history or other specimens maintained at any museum or picture gallery, may be granted or renewed for a period not exceeding three years at a time, so however as not to extend beyond the 31st day of March according to the duration for which the licence is granted.

No such licence shall be granted to a minor.

Every application for renewal of a licence in form R.S. II. 5 [for a quota of rectified Spirit exceeding 18,000 bulk litres per annum] shall be accompanied by a challan evidencing payment of a fee of Rs. 5]

The licensee holding a licence in Form R.S.I shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except from a licensee holding a sale licensee in Form R.S.VI.

A licensee holding a licence in Form R.S.II shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except,-

(a) from a licensee holding a retail sale licence in Form R.S. VI under a valid transport pass in Form R.S. IV, or

(b) from any licensed distillery or warehouse or from a licensee holding a licence in Form R.S. VII and under a valid transport pass in Form R.S.IV:

Provided, that no transport pass in Form R.S.IV shall be necessary for a licensee holding an order under rule 16-B exempting him from payment of excise duty.]

No licensee shall use rectified spirit for industrial purposes except on the recommendation of the Director of Industries and in the manner and to the extent recommended by him. The rectified spirit recommended by the Director of Industries shall be used subject to such conditions as may be imposed by the Director in that behalf.

The Commissioner may appoint such excise staff for supervision over the use of rectified spirit as he deems necessary.

The licensee shall abide by the provisions of the Act and the rules, regulations and orders made thereunder 2 [and also by all the conditions of the licence which may be imposed by the State Government at the time of granting the licence or at any time during the currency of the licence] and shall give an undertaking to that effect.

The licence may be suspended or cancelled in accordance with the provisions of section 54 or 56 of the Act.

In case the licence is suspended or cancelled during the currency of the licence period or is not renewed on its expiry, the licensee shall forthwith surrended to the Collector the whole of his stock of rectified spirit.

3 [Possession and use of duty-free rectified spirit

Any person holding a licence for the possession of rectified spirit for use for any bona fide research or educational purpose or for the purpose of preservation of specimens of natural history or other specimens maintained at any museum or picture gallery and desiring to obtain duty-free rectified spirit for such purpose shall make an application in that behalf to the Collector

The application shall contain the following particulars, namely:

(1) name and address of the applicant;

(2) where duty-free rectified spirit is required on behalf of an institution or museum or picture gallery; (a) the name of the institution or museum or picture gallery; (b) the capacity in which the applicant represents the institution or museum or picture gallery;

(3) the place where duty-free rectified spirit will be used;

(4) specific purpose for which duty-free spirit is required;

(5) where duty-free rectified spirit is required for research purposes in an institution, the total number of laboratories attached to such institution;

(6) when duty-free rectified spirit is required for teaching purposes in an institution whether the institution has a laboratory and if so, the number of students which require rectified spirit for use in the laboratory

(7) the name of the Government distillery or warehouse 1 [or any licensed distillery or warehouse] from which the applicant desires to purchase duty-free spirit;

(8) the quantity of duty-free rectified spirit required by the applicant during the period of the licence;

(9) the quantity of rectified spirit which the applicant is allowed to have in his possession at any one time under the licence held by him;

(10) the quantity of rectified spirit which the applicant is allowed to buy in the aggregate in any one month under the licence held by him;

(11) the number and date of the licence held by the applicant and the designation of the authority which granted it.

When the application under sub-rule (1) is made on behalf of an educational institution, the application shall be accompanied by a certificate granted by the Director of Education or the Educational Inspector or any other departmental head approved by the Commissioner in that behalf, showing the number of students studying at the institution and the quantity of duty-free rectified spirit required therein for educational purpose.

The Inspector of Prohibition and Excise shall, on demand by the applicant, supply him with a Requisition Form in R.S.III in quadruplicate.

The applicant shall fill in all the four parts of the requisition form and submit it to the Inspector.

On receipt of the requisition under rule 18, the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise shall make such inquiries as he deems necessary and if he is satisfied that there is no objection to allow the purchase of rectified spirit, he may countersign the requisition.

The four parts of the requisition shall be dealt with as under

Part I shall be kept on the record of the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise;

Part II shall be handed over to the applicant;

Part III shall be sent to the person holding a sale licence or the Warehouse or Distillery Officer, as the case may be, from whom the rectified spirit is to be purchased; and

Part IV shall be forwarded to the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise in whose jurisdiction the licensed premises of the said person or the warehouse or distillery, as the case may be, is situated.

The applicant shall then make an application 1 [in Form R.S. III-A] to the Collector or any other Officer duly authorised in that behalf within whose jurisdiction the licensed premises of the person holding the sale licence or the warehouse or distillery, as the case may be, is situated for a pass to transport rectified spirit therefrom to the licensed premises of the applicant and shall present Part II of the requisition alongwith the application:

Provided that, no such application or pass shall be necessary in the case of transport of rectified spirit by a licensee holding licence in Form R.S.I 2 [or by a licensee holding a licence in Form R.S.II to whom an order of exemption under rule 16-B has been issued.]

If the Collector or the authorised officer is satisfied that there is no objection to grant the pass applied for, he may grant the pass in Form R.S. IV 1 [on payment of fee payable under the Bombay Foreign Liquor and Rectified Spirit (Transport) Fees Rules, 1954:

Provided that, no such fees shall be payable in the case of a pass for the transport of rectified spirit which is incidental to its purchase, from a licensee holding a sale licence in Form R.S. VI.]

Such pass shall be in four parts and shall be dealt with as under

Part I shall be kept on the record of the officer granting the pass;

Part II shall be handed over to the applicant for sending it with the consignment;

Part III shall be sent to the person holding a sale licence or Warehouse Officer or Distillery Officer, as the case may be, from whom the rectified spirit is to be purchases; and

Part IV shall be sent 3 [through the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise in whose jurisdiction the licensed premises of the person holding a sale licence or the warehouse or distillery, as the case may be, is situated,] to the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise of the place to which rectified spirit is to be transported.

Part II of the requisition shall also be handed over to the applicant alongwith part II of the transport pass.

No person other than a person holding a licence to sell rectified spirit or a licence to possess it shall be granted any requisition in Form R.S.III or a transport pass in Form R.S.IV.

No such requisition in Form R.S.III or a transport pass in Form R.S.IV shall be granted unless the transport is incidental to the purchase of rectified spirit.

Any person desiring to transport rectified spirit shall make an application 1 [in Form R.S. IV-A] to an officer duly authorised in that behalf for a pass. If the said Officer on receiving the application is satisfied that there is no objection to grant the pass applied for he may grant the applicant a pass in Form R.S. V:

Provided that, no such pass shall be necessary for the transport of rectified spirit by a person holding a licence in Form R.S.I.

The pass shall be in three parts and shall be dealt with as under

Part I shall be kept on the record of the officer granting the pass ;

Part II shall be handed over to the applicant for sending it with consignment ; and

Part III shall be sent to the Inspector of Prohibition and Excise of the place to which rectified spirit is to be transported.

The provisions of sub-rule (i) shall not apply to the transport of rectified spirit to which the provisions of rule 20 apply.

No licence in Form R.S. VI shall be granted for a period exceeding one year at a time and in no case shall such period extend beyond 31st March next following the date of the commencement of the licence.

Every application for renewal of a licence in form R.S. VI shall be accompanied by challan evidencing payment of a fee of five rupees.]

The licensee shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except from-

(i) a Government or licensed distillery;

(ii) a bonded Warehouse;

(iii) a manufacturer or dealer in any part of India outside the State of Maharashtra ;

1 [(iv) his licensed premises for which a bottling licence in Form R.S., VI-A has been issued];

Provided that, the licensee may obtain his supply of rectified spirit from a place outside India through a Customs House.

The licensee shall not bring rectified spirit to the licensed premises except under a transport pass issued under rule 20 or 23.

The licensee shall carry on the business of his rectified spirit shop either personally or by an agent or servant duly authorised by him in this behalf by a written nokarnama signed by himself and countersigned by an Officer not lower in rank than a Sub-Inspector of Prohibition and Excise:

Provided that any such nokarnama signed by the licensee shall be valid unless and until countersignature is refused. If for any reason the Collector shall order the withdrawal of any nokarnama issued by the licensee, the nokarnama shall be forthwith withdrawn. For every nokarnama issued by him the licensee shall pay such fee as may from time to time be prescribed for this privilege by the State Government under the Act. No nokarnama shall be issued to any person under 21 years of age.

The licensee shall maintain accounts in Form R.S. VI-D and shall submit returns in Form R.S. VI-E.]

The licensee shall not sell, transfer or sublet the right of vend conferred upon him by the licence nor shall he in connection with the exercise of the said right enter into any agreement or arrangement which in the opinion of the Collector is of the nature of a sub-lease.

No person will be recognized as a partner of the licensee for the purpose of the licence unless the partnership has been declared to the Collector before the licence is granted and the names of the partners have been entered jointly in the licence, or if the partnership is entered into after the granting of the licence unless the Collector agrees on application made to him to alter the licence and to add the names of the partners in the licence.

The licensee shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except from-

(i) a Government or licensed distillery;

(ii) a bonded warehouse;

(iii) a manufacturer or dealer in any part of India outside the State; or

(iv) a place outside India through a Customs House.

The licensee shall not bring rectified spirit to the licensed premises except under a transport-in-bond pass prescribed under the Bombay Rectified Spirit (Transportin-Bond) Ruled, 1951.

The licensee shall keep in the licensed premises in bound books or stout paper, paged and stamped with the seal of the Collector, Mamlatdar, Tahsildar or Mahalkari, accounts in Form R.S. VII-D and R.S. VII-E. The accounts shall be clearly and correctly written up-to-date daily. With the accounts in Form R.S. VII-D shall be filed the passes under the cover of which rectified spirit was received or sold. The account shall be open to inspection by the Collector or any other officer empowered under section 122 of the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949.

The licensee shall submit not later than the 15th of every month returns in Form R.S. VII-F to the District Prohibition and Excise Officer in duplicate and shall maintain register in Form R.S. VII-G.

If after making such inquiries as he may deem necessary, the Collector is satisfied that the applicant is a fit person to hold the licence and that the premises in which he proposes to carry on the bottling operations are suitable and are in conformity with the requirements laid down in rule 46, he may, subject to the conditions hereafter provided, grant licence in Form R.S. VI-A.

The licence shall be granted 1 [or renewed] for a period not exceeding one year at a time and in no case such period shall be extended beyond 31st March next following the date of the commencement of the licence, on payment of a fee 1 [(inclusive of consideration) of two hundred rupees.]

Every application for renewal of a licence in Form R.S. VI-A shall be accompanied by a challan evidencing payment of five rupees for such application.”]

Separate rooms or compartments having their grills embedded in cement shall be provided in the licensed premises in which bottling operations are intended to be carried on. Each such room or compartment shall be used only for one of the purposes specified below, namely:-

(i) the storage of rectified spirit in bulk before bottling;

(ii) the carrying on of bottling operations; and

(iii) the storage of rectified spirit in sealed bottles.

Every room or compartment in the licensed premises shall be well ventilated and all the windows thereof shall be securely barred and wire netted, the net having the mesh of not more than 2.5 centimeters. Every such room or compartment shall bear on the outside a sign board on which shall be legibly painted in oil colour the purpose for which the room or compartment is used.

The premises shall be sufficiently fire-proof and approved by the municipal authorities.

After a licence has been granted for bottling, no addition to or alterations in anyroom or compartment or any of the permanent fixtures of the licensed premises shall be made without the previous approval of the Collector.

The licensee shall provide suitable office accommodation, with sanitary arrangements, for the Prohibition and Excise Officer within the licensed premises and shall also supply such furniture and other articles for the Officer’s use as the Collector may consider necessary.

No smoking or naked lights or fires shall be allowed within the licensed premises.

At the close of each day on which any business takes place, the licensed premises and every room or compartment therein shall be locked by the licensee and the Prohibition and Excise Officer supervising the bottling operations with separate locks.

The licensee shall not carry on bottling operations except in the presence of the Prohibition and Excise Officer as may be deputed in that behalf.

Except with the permission of the Collector, the licensee shall not carry on bottling operations or other business on a Sunday or a public holiday and on any other day bottling operations shall not be carried on before 10-30 a.m. or after 5.00 p.m. and on Saturday before 10.30 a.m. and after 1.30 p.m. The licensed premises shall not be kept open on Saturday after 2.00 p.m. and on any other day after 5.30 p.m. on every working day except Saturday, there will be a recess of half an hour from 1.00 p.m. to 1.30 p.m.

No rectified spirit shall be bottled unless an account of the quantity and strength has been taken by the Prohibition and Excise Officer.

The licensee shall keep in Form R.S. VI-B true accounts of the quantity of all rectified spirit received used in the bottling operations and removed from the licensed premises and transferred to the R.S. VI/R.S. VII licensed premises. The accounts of rectified spirit and absolute alcohol shall be separate and shall be written at the end of each day on which bottling operations are carried on. The Prohibition and Excise Officer deputed for supervising the bottling operations shall check the accounts at the end of each day’s work.

(a) The licensee shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except from, -

(i) a Government or licensed distillery;

(ii) a bonded warehouse;

(iii) a 1 [manufacturer or dealer] in any part of India outside the State of Maharashtra; or

(iv) a place outside India through a Customs House;

Provided that a holder of a licence in Form R.S. VII shall not obtain his supply of rectified spirit except from the stock held by him under the licensee in Form R.S. VII.

(b) The licensee (not being a licensee holding a licence in Form R.S. VII), shall not bring rectified spirit to the licensed premises except under a transport pass issued under rule 20 or 23.

The licensee (not being a licensee holding a licence in Form R.S. VII), shall pay the fees prescribed under the Bombay Foreign Liquor and Rectified Spirit (Transport) Fees Rules, 1954 in respect of the pass for the transport of rectified spirit obtained by him in accordance with sub-rule (3) before such transport pass issued to him.

The licensee shall store all rectified spirit intended for bottling in clean and sound cask or containers. After the rectified spirit is stored in the casks or the containers, they shall be sealed with the seal of the Prohibition and Excise Officer. Each cask or container shall bear a serial number and a description of its capacity. No alternations shall be made in the casks or containers, not any device be used which is likely to render the accounts of the spirit contained in any such cask or container unreliable or checking thereof by the Prohibition and Excise Officer difficult.

The bottles to be used shall be cleaned and rinsed, immediately before bottling commences, with a freshly prepared solution of permanganate of potash in the proportion of 7 centigrams to one litre of water, or any other disinfectant of such strength as may, from time to time, be prescribed by the Commissioner.

Rectified Spirit shall be bottled in bottles of the capacities of 250 milliliters, 500 milliliters and 750 milliliters.

The bottles shall, as soon as they are filled, be closed with pilfer-proof closing machine. Each bottle shall bear a label, the design and superscription of which have been previously approved by the Commissioner and shall show -

(a) the description of the contents of the bottle, i.e. rectified spirit or absolute alcohol;

(b) the full name, or initials of the manufacturer of rectified spirit/absolute alcohol;

(c) the full name, address and licence number of the bottling licensee; and

(d) quantity of spirit contained.

No particulars other than those specified above shall be printed or shown on the same or any other label on the bottles.

The labels or capsules shall not indicate that the rectified spirit has been bottled under Prohibition and Excise or Official Supervision or in any way misdescribe the rectified spirit bottled under these rules :

Provided that in the case of rectified spirit bottled in a Government bonded warehouse, the bottles may be labeled or capsuled as “Bottled in the Prohibition and Excise Bonded Warehouse …………………………………………”.

The Prohibition and Excise Officer shall see that the labeling and closing of bottles have not been done in contravention of the provisions of the Indian Merchandise Marks Act, 1889.

The whole of the contents of a cask or contained shall be bottled in one operation.

Rebottling shall not be carried out without the previous permission of the Commissioner.