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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that licence holders of liquor shops, ordered to be closed during the period of heightened tension in Uttar Pradesh immediately after demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya, were entitled to seek licence fee remission from the government.

"The position which finally emerges out is that an application for remission/damages for closure of shops in entirety auctioned in a group, as is the case in the appeals in hand, would be maintainable," a Bench comprising Chief Justice V N Khare, Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice Arun Kumar said in a recent judgement.

The high court allowing the appeals of three licence holders for liquor shops had directed the authorities to refund the amount as determined for remission.

Setting aside the high court order, the Bench said though the application for seeking remission of licence fee in such forced closure was maintainable in law, it was for the concerned authorities to consider the "merit of the claim for remission/damages and pass any appropriate order looking into the facts and circumstances of the case." It directed the authorities to decide the applications of the licence holders within three months.

As a sequel to the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, tension prevailed in the state and liquor shops were ordered to be closed.

The licence holders, who were the highest bidders for the shops leased out on auction, had sought remission of licence fee citing loss of business as the reason.

PTI