The Supreme Court has struck down two Maharashtra rules requiring additives in methanol as unconstitutional, holding that a 14-year-old safety measure failed the test of proportionality.

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• The Supreme Court, in M/S Balaji Formalin Pvt. Ltd. vs Union of India (2026 INSC 1009), struck down Rules 18A and 18B of the Maharashtra Poisons Rules, 1972, on September 18, 2026.
• A bench of Justices Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran held both rules violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution for being arbitrary and disproportionate.
• Rule 18A required sellers to verify a purchaser's Form A licence and mandated mixing methanol sold for non-drug use with a prescribed colourant and bitterant.
• Rule 18B provided for confiscation of methanol held without a valid Form A licence.
• Both rules were inserted through the Maharashtra Poisons (Amendment) Rules, 2011, following the 1991 hooch tragedy at Chhaya Bar in Andheri, Mumbai.
• That tragedy saw around 250 people consume spurious methanol-laced liquor, resulting in approximately 93 deaths, prompting the additive requirement.
• Applying the proportionality framework from the nine-judge Puttaswamy privacy verdict, the Court accepted preventing methanol deaths as a legitimate objective but found the specific restrictions unsuitable.
• The additives made methanol commercially unusable for legitimate industrial buyers making formaldehyde, disinfectants, paints, resins and decorative laminates.
• The Court noted that a stay on the rules had already been in operation for about 14 years while the challenge was pending.
• It suggested alternative safeguards instead, including tighter licence verification, stock reconciliation, dedicated tankers and tamper-evident seals for methanol transport and storage.
• The appeal arose after the Bombay High Court had earlier dismissed the manufacturers' writ petition and upheld the rules.