While discharging a Chinese national from a case filed against him that he allegedly sold seven bottles of beer on the Ramazan Festival Day, the Colombo Fort Magistrate observed that the police cannot proceed with the case because the condition violations of a liquor licence comes under the purview of the Excise Department.  

However, Magistrate Thilina Gamage maintained that releasing the Chinese national from this case would only be valid until the Excise Department takes legal action against the suspect.

Filing a case before the Magistrate, the Kollupitiya police alleged that Shu Shuping sold seven bottles of beer on the day of the Ramazan festival (August 9, 2013) at a Chinese restaurant in Kollupitiya.

When the case came up before Magistrate Thilina Gamage, the Defence counsel Sudarshani Gunaratne appearing for the suspect argued that his client had been arrested by the police while he was having a liquor licence and further charged that police acted contrary to the law.

Having considered the submissions, the Magistrate observed that police do not have powers to handle the cases relating to the condition violations of a liquor licence since the fact that the Excise Department could only take legal action against the suspect. (LS)