CHENNAI: Much to the delight of tipplers in Tamil Nadu, the Madras high court has asked the government-owned liquor retailer to make all brands of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) available in its outlets across the state. "There should be a la carte system and consumer, who is the master of his choice, should be allowed to purchase according to his wishes," Justice V Dhanapalan said on Wednesday.

The matter pertains to a petition filed by liquor manufacturer Golden Vats Private Ltd, which claimed the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) was following discriminatory and arbitrary policies while placing orders for premium liquor brands. It said it received IMFL licence in 2010 and was among the 11 companies selling liquor to Tasmac. However, since July 2013, Tasmac has drastically reduced orders for supply from the distillery, it said. For the next five months, the company received orders for only 28,300 cases while the other companies received orders for 10 lakh cases.

It said Tasmac ignored its premium brands and issued orders for only small and medium brands. It asked the court to direct the corporation to issue supply order on the basis of monthly average retail sale of each premium brand.

Tasmac denied the charges and said the supply order was based on sales and closing balance of the brand in depots. When there were sufficient stocks, it could not place orders against the interest of government and consumers. Tasmac said it was not under any obligation to purchase the premium brands without considering the market demand and choice of consumers.

Justice Dhanapalan said a state could create a monopoly for trade in liquor through an agency to maximize profits but this cannot be done arbitrarily. "Tasmac may not be justified to have their own whims and fancies of keeping certain things in their domain and doing certain things without any guidelines. The government cannot choose to exclude persons by discrimination," he said.

Finding non-issuance of orders to Golden Vats as "arbitrary, unreasonable and against the constitutional provisions," the judge asked Tasmac to place orders on the basis of average monthly sales. He also directed the corporation to frame guidelines for issuing orders.