Patna, February 12, 2018: The Patna high court on Monday allowed the use of potable spirit in homeopathic, ayurvedic and some other medicines and removed ‘denatured spirit’ from the intoxicant category.Hearing four writ petitions, the division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay ruled that the state government has no legislative competence to make law on regulating the potable and denatured spirit and declared the provisions made in this regard in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as unconstitutional.
The court also allowed the transportation, production and use of ‘denatured spirit’ in manufacturing of paints, varnishes and other industrial items.
Denatured spirit is used in manufacturing paints and varnishes among other non-edible items.Two writ petitions were filed against the state government’s rules on prohibiting spirit for medicinal use by Dr Mohammad Anwar and Mahesh Homoeopathic Laboratories while Samrat Laboratories and Shiva Laboratories had challenged the law on denatured spirit.
Advocate Satyabir Bharti represented the four petitioners.Through Section 2 (40) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, enforced on October 2, 2016, the state government had brought spirit used for medicinal purposes and denatured spirit under the category of intoxicants and made it illegal in Bihar to produce, store or consume homeopathic medicines, paints, varnishes and other items containing it.