New Delhi, Nov. 7: The Supreme Court today lobbed the ball back to Calcutta High Court over cases regarding the issuance of liquor licences in Bengal, saying those pending there should be adjudicated first.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Y.K. Sabharwal and Justices S.N. Variava and C.K. Thakker today disposed of a batch of petitions by the All Bengal Excise Licensees’ Association and the North 24-Parganas Excise Licensees’ Association on the grounds that they should wait for the high court orders.

The high court had on March 23 stayed a notification of the state government issuing new liquor shop licences.

On August 29, the Supreme Court had stayed all licences issued in Bengal since January 20, 2004.

The petitioners are free to move the high court if the state violates the stay order, the apex bench said today.

It pointed out that a pub- lic interest litigation filed by one Shyamali Roy Mookherjee was also pending before the high court. The PIL had sought a direction to cancel all fresh licences and quash a state government notification dated January 20, 2004.

The January 2004 government order said “new shops could be settled through lottery” and that lists of applicants had been “received from all districts” for the new licences, said Chanchal Ganguly, the advocate on record for the petitioners. According to the notification, one liquor shop licence was to be issued for a population of 18,000.

Ganguly alleged that licences were issued “arbitrarily violating all norms and the law” to benefit some people.

A single-judge bench of the high court had on March 23 ordered that licences “cannot be granted in terms of the circular dated 20.1.2004”. Ganguly said until “such time (as) the PIL is answered by the court, the high court order staying the new liquor licence notification should not be vacated”.

The government had issued a memo to all district magistrates and collectors to issue “supplementary country spirit licences” to toddy shop owners. Ganguly said this was to “circumvent” the high court order barring the government from issuing new licences both in urban and rural areas.