On October 23, 2024, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment (8:1 majority) decisively holding that the Parliament lacks legislative competence to regulate the industrial alcohol sector under the guise of intoxicating liquor control.

The core issue was the extent of State Legislatures’ power under Entry 8 of the State List and whether industrial alcohol falls within the meaning of “intoxicating liquor.” The Court clarified that States possess exclusive authority to regulate industrial alcohol, reshaping the regulatory landscape.

This ruling arose from a reconsideration of the Synthetic & Chemicals Ltd v. State of Uttar Pradesh (Synthetic Judgment), where a seven-judge bench had previously held that States could not regulate industrial alcohol. With this latest judgment, the Synthetic Judgment now stands overruled.

Read the full article to understand the constitutional reasoning, the implications for the liquor and chemical industries, and how this decision recalibrates the balance of legislative powers between the Centre and States published on Lexology and Chambers and Partners.