Subject to the provisions of section 31, the Excise Commissioner may grant to any person a license for the exclusive privilege —

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(1) of manufacturing or of supplying by wholesale, or of both, or

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(2) of selling by wholesale or by retail, or

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(3) of manufacturing or of supplying by wholesale, or of both, and of selling by retail,

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any country liquor or intoxicating drug within any local area.

¹[The Excise Commissioner] subject to the previous sanction of the State Government may make rules ;

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(a) regulating the manufacture, supply, storage or sale of any [intoxicant]² including

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(i) the erection, alteration, repair, inspection, supervision, management and control of any place for the manufacture, supply, storage or sale of such article and the fittings implements and apparatus to be maintained therein ;
(ii) the cultivation of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa) ;
(iii) the collection of portions of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa) from which any intoxicating drug can be manufactured and the manufacture of any intoxicating drug therefrom ;

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(b) regulating the deposit of any [intoxicant]² in a warehouse and the removal of any [intoxicant]² from any such warehouse or from any distillery ³[brewery or manufactory].

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⁴[(c) prescribing the scale of fees or the manner of fixing the fees payable for any licence, permit or pass, including any consideration for the grant of any exclusive or other privileges granted under section 24 or section 24A or for sorting of any [intoxicant]².

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⁵[Provided that nothing contained in this clause shall be construed to prevent the State Government from levying by notification made from time to time, any fee, including vend fee, as part of consideration for the granting of any such privilege.]

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Explanation Fees may be prescribed under this sub-clause at different rates for different classes of licences, permits, passes or storage and for different areas ;

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⁶[(2) The manner of fixing such fee or consideration includes any one or more of the following manners, namely :

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(i) auction,
(ii) invitation of tenders,
(iii) assessment on the basis of sales made or quota lifted under the license, permit or pass. ]

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(d) regulating the time, place and manner of payment of any duty or fee ;

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(e) prescribing the restrictions under and the conditions on which any license, permit or pass may be granted, including provision for the following matters

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(i) the prohibition of the admixture with any [intoxicant]² of any substance deemed to be noxious or objectionable ;
(ii) the regulation or prohibition of the reduction of liquor by a licensed manufacturer or licensed vendor from a higher to a lower strength ;
(iii) the fixing of the strength price or quantity in excess of or below which any [intoxicant]² shall not be sold or supplied, and of the quantity in excess of which denatured spirit shall not be possessed, and the prescription of a standard of quality for any [intoxicant]² ;
(iv) the prohibition of sale except for cash ;
(v) the fixing of the days and hours during which any licensed premises may or may not be kept open, and the closure of such premises on special occasions ;
(vi) the specification of the nature of the premises in which any [intoxicant]² may be sold and the notices to be exposed at such premises ;
(vii) the form of the accounts to be maintained and the returns to be submitted by license-holders ; and
(viii) the regulation of the transfer of licenses ;

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(f) (i) declaring the process by which spirit manufactured in ⁷[ * * * ] India shall be denatured ;
(ii) for causing such spirit to be denatured through the agency or under the supervision of its own officers ;
(iii) for ascertaining whether such spirit has been denatured ;

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(g) providing for the destruction or other disposal of any [intoxicant]² deemed to be unfit for use ;

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(h) regulating the disposal of confiscated articles.