New Delhi, Nov. 21: The Supreme Court today allowed the Bihar government to file a transfer petition seeking moving of all petitions filed in Patna High Court challenging the Nitish Kumar government's decision to impose total prohibition in the state.

A bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Amitava Roy told senior counsel Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the state, that it would pass appropriate orders once the transfer petition is listed before it.

Several petitions are pending in Patna High Court challenging the prohibition policy of the Grand Alliance government.

The state wants all the petitions transferred to the Supreme Court.

On October 7, in a relief to the Nitish Kumar government, the apex court had stayed Patna High Court's September 30 judgment quashing total prohibition imposed in the state on April 5 this year.

The apex court had passed the earlier order on an appeal filed by the Bihar government challenging the high court order, on the ground that the state has a right to impose prohibition in the larger interests of the society, particularly women.

By the impugned judgment the high court had held as "unconstitutional" the state's decision to impose prohibition under Section 19(4) of the Bihar Excise Act, 1915, as amended by the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016; and the penal provisions of enhanced sentence and provision, with regard to confiscation of property.

The Bihar government has raised the following grounds in the appeal:

* The state has not prohibited the manufacturing and bottling of the liquor in the state of Bihar so that the manufacturers and suppliers would recompense their losses

* By way of the notification dated 18.04.2016, the state has also decided to provide complete exemption of the export duty on ethanol and ENA produced by the distilleries and breweries along with the refund of their various license fees deposited by them except the license fees concerning the manufacturing activities

* So far as the licensee fees of Bar and Restaurant owners are concerned, the state is committed to purchase all their stocks at the same rate on which it was sold to them and further committed to refund their licence fees.