Ranchi, April 12: Jharkhand High Court today allowed the liquor syndicate to surrender their licences for country and spice liquor to the government.

The government, on the other hand, has been ordered to take a ?reasoned? decision but not be ?arbitrary, discriminatory and illegal?.

As many as 1,600 liqour shops across the state, selling Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), country and spice liquor, were closed down by the excise department since March 31 midnight after members of the liquor syndicate refused to deposit the advance licence fee with the district treasuries.

Following this, Radhe Biscuit, one of the firms of which the liquor syndicate is composed of, had moved the high court challenging the decision of the government.

Problem arose when the government asked the syndicate to deposit advance licence fees for all categories of liquor, which meant IMFL, spice and country liquor and the latter made it clear that they would only do so for IMFL.

According to the government, the syndicate had violated terms of an agreement made with the excise department in July 2004 to sell all types of liquors throughout the state for three years. The traders, however, maintained that they wanted to do business in only one category since the government had stopped supplying liquor in sachets, instead providing the same stuff in bottles.

?The price of bottles was compensated by reducing the supply of liquor,? they added.