Shillong, May 22: The discrepancy on the part of the state government to adhere to the directions of the high court and the Supreme Court on excise management system has irked the wine dealers.
Addressing a press conference on Friday ( May 22). on behalf of the association, Samborlang Diengdoh spoke about the orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court which rejected 30 per cent excise charge.
The full text of the statement below
1. A Reminder That Few Months Back The Government Of Meghalaya Introduced A Policy Namely The Integrated Excise Management System (IEMS) Which Was Awarded To The C-Tel Infosystem Private Limited Represented By M.P. Singhania & Company, C/o Eldorado Building Jail Road Shillong-793001 Whereby 5% Of The Retailers Profit Margin Was Deducted From The Retailers To Pay The Above Mentioned Party.
2. The Above Exercise Was Challenged By The East Khasi Hills Wine Dealers Welfare Association vide WP(C). No. 406 Of 2025 For Which The Judgement Came Out On The 26th March 2026. In The Judgement It Clearly Stated That The Government Can Introduce Any Policy Provided That It Should Not Interfere With The 20% Retailers Profit Margin As Mentioned In Point Number 24 Of The Said Judgement.
3. After This Verdict From The Division Bench Of The Hon’ble High Court Of Meghalaya, The Government Was Not Satisfied With The Said Verdict And Had Appealed To The Hon’ble Supreme Court Division Bench Vide Special Leave Of Appeal (C) No (S) 13948/2026 26061138 And On The 27th April 2026 This Petition Was Called On For Hearing. On The Very First Hearing Itself, After Some Arguments, Mr. Amit Kumar Learned Advocate General Seeks Permission To Withdraw The Special Leave Petition . Permission, As Sought For, Is Granted. The Special Leave Petition Is Withdrawn. Accordingly Dismissed
4. Interestingly, After Both The Verdicts Of Both The Hon’ble High Court And The Hon’ble Supreme Court Which Is Against The Government Decision To Deduct The 20% Profit Margin Of The Retailers, On The 13th May 2026 The Government Came Up With A Shocking Notification Number ERTS(E) 12/2026/28 Clearly Stating That The Profit Margin Has Been Revised To 15.5% Clearly Defying The Above Two Orders.
5. As An Enterpreneur, From Our Businesses We Are Contributing To The Meghalaya Value Added Tax Of 5% From Diesel, 13.5% From Petrol And 30% From The Liquor (IMFL) To The State’s Exchequer. All These Revenues Adds Up To the Salaries Of The Government Employees And MLAs And Ministers Are Also Government Employees. After Getting All The Salaries And Incentives, Yet They Are Still Taking Away Our Profit Margins.
6. We Also Have A Family To Take Care And our Children Education And Various Expenses As Well. If Our Profit Margins Have Been Streamlined By The People in Power, Then How Can We Survive With The Growing Inflation? This Is A Very Dangerous Trend And Very Difficult For The Upcoming Generations Of Enterpreneur And Self Employed Youths. The Same People Who Encourages Self Employment And Enterpreneurship, The Very Same People Are Backstabbing Us With Their Policies.
7. This Same Thing Happens With The Teachers As Well Seen In The News Where They Have Won The Legal Battle Against The Government But They Have Been Denied Their Rights.
8. With This Present MDA Government, We’ve Seen Favouritism For Selected Few Businessmen Like The Badri Rai Constructions (BRC) Which Always Comes Up Every Now And Then In The News For All The Wrong Reasons, The C-Tel Infosystem Private Limited Run By Vikram Singhania And In The Process Sidelining The Qualified Inspectors Of Our State’s Excise Department, Compromising The Whole Excise department And The Various Hyderabad Firms Awarded With Big Big Projects Sidelining The Capable And Experience Contractors Of Our State. These Are Political Wills Which Clearly Shows That Our Chief Minister Decides Not To work For The People Of The State.
