A TASMAC outlet near Salem New Bus Stand. File
| Photo Credit: E. Lakshmi Narayanan
The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) to ensure that bill books are maintained in every retail liquor shop run by it across the State and that consumers are issued bills for every bottle of liquor they purchase.
Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan issued the directions while dealing with a writ petition (criminal) filed by advocate clerk G. Devarajan, who had lodged complaints, particularly with respect to 30 retail liquor shops across Chennai that collected excess amounts between 2022 and 2026.
The petitioner had sought a direction to the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) to register a First Information Report (FIR) against the employees of all those 30 shops under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and recover the excess amount collected by them.
He wanted the recovered money to go into government coffers, and the salesmen, supervisors, and managers of all those retail shops to be subjected to disciplinary action for having indulged in the malpractice of collecting excess amounts from customers.
Responding to the writ petition, TASMAC standing counsel K. Sathish Kumar told the court that five out of the 30 shops mentioned by the writ petitioner had been closed down. After recording his submission, the judge had directed the corporation to produce stock-cum-sale registers and shop-wise bill summaries.
The documents produced before the court, in compliance with the direction, revealed that the retail liquor shops were maintaining details regarding opening balance, inward bottles, sold-out bottles, and the amount of money collected from the customers. However, they did not maintain any bill books.
Disapproving of the practice of not issuing bills for the liquor bottles sold at the shops, the judge ordered that all TASMAC retail shops in the State must issue bills for every bottle of liquor sold by them and that customers must be made to stand in a queue outside the shops while purchasing the bottles.
The judge directed the High Court Registy to list the case once again on Friday (August 7, 2026) for reporting compliance of the directions issued by him in order to address the concerns raised by the writ petitioner.
Published – August 05, 2026 03:36 pm IST
