By an 8:1 majority on Wednesday, the nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that states had the authority to control industrial alcohol.
The Supreme Court declared that states cannot claim to regulate industrial alcohol even under the Concurrent List, overturning a 1990 verdict by a seven-judge panel in the Synthetics and Chemicals case that held the opposite and favoured the Centre.
CJI DY Chandrachud, together with Justices Hrishikesh Roy, AS Oka, JB Pardiwala, Ujjal Bhuyan, Manoj Misra, SC Sharma, and AG Masih, rendered the majority decision.
Justice BV Nagarathna expressed the dissenting view, arguing that the Centre alone will possess the legislative authority to control industrial alcohol.
