[Civil Appeal No. 4900 of 2006]. This Appeal calls into question a brief Judgment passed on 21.7.2005 by the Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala in W.A. No. 910 of 2000 reversing the detailed Judgment of the learned Single Judge. The question that has been raised pertains to the Appellant's entitlement to pay proportionate annual rental for the year 1999-2000, instead of full annual fee of 13 lakhs which was applicable for that year in respect of an FL3 licence granted to her. The Division Bench took note of Rule 14 of the Foreign Liquor Rules which reads thus: "If any of the licences referred to in Rule 13 is granted in the course of a financial year, the full annual fee shall be paid and the licence shall expire at the end of the financial year". On the reading of the said Rule, the Division Bench opined that it was not permissible for any licensee to claim only proportionate payment on the predication that it had been disabled from utilizing the licence for the full period because of third party intervention.
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