The Supreme Court yesterday issued an interim order preventing the operation of the gazette notification issued by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, which increased the annual excise license fees.
The Supreme Court’s three-judge bench, comprising Justices H. M. D. Nawaz, Kumudini Wickramasinghe and Priyantha Fernando, issued this order after granting leave to proceed with a Fundamental Rights petition filed by the Sri Lanka Liquor Licencees Association.
The interim order suspends the operation of Gazette Notification No. 1/2024, which was issued by former President Wickremesinghe in his capacity as the Finance Minister.
According to the gazette, the distillery license fee (excluding Palmyra arrack) was increased from Rs. 1 million to Rs. 25 million, while the license fee for Palmyra arrak was raised from Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 5 million.
The petitioners alleged that Gazette Notification No. 1/2024 prompted an unreasonable increase in the annual fee for liquor licences, raising it to Rs. 25 million. They filed the petition claiming that this significant increase caused them severe injustice and violated their fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
Additionally, the petitioners requested the Court to direct the authorities to impose levies on liquor licenses in accordance with the gazette notification issued in 2017. The Finance Ministry Secretary and several others were named as respondents in the petition.