SC: bars, pubs not exempted from highway liquor ban

In its order on 15 December past year, the Supreme Court had noted, “The expressways witnessed 4,208 accident cases, 4,229 injured and 1,802 deaths”.

The state government is also considering the legal option of filing a revision petition in regard to the Supreme Court’s Friday order, which banned bars from close proximity of highways.

From today, liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways will have to shut down.

The Court had passed this judgment in a set of PILs which had alleged that liquor shops along the highways were a major contributory factor to instances of drunk driving, which claimed high casualties every year.

The Supreme Court on Friday said hotels and restaurants falling within 500 metres on either side of the national and state highways can not serve liquor. S B Vasava, secretary, roads & buildings department said, “We will study the order of the SC and that of the prohibition and excise department. Around 1,000 such hotels are affected by the liquor ban”. The Court ruled that licenses would be revoked from April 1.

The court has argued in its order that there should be nothing stopping states from re-issuing licences to alcohol vendors outside the prescribed distance of 500 metres.

The Supreme Court’s order saying there will be no sale of alcohol in hotels, restaurants and outlets within 500 metres of state and national highways has dealt a blow to the shares of liquor companies.

Mr Shetty said that over five lakh people in Maharashtra were rendered jobless after SC ordered closing of bars within 500 metre on roads and highways, and AHAR members held the majority of such bars located around highways.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government, which is also estimated to lose an annual Rs 7,000 crore due to the ban, tried to exempt bars from the order last week.

Tamil Nadu has been hit very badly, with as many as 3,320 outlets run by state-owned sole retailer TASMAC being closed.

Among states, Punjab was the one making most of the noise, with the State’s Hotel and Restaurant Association making the direst predictions. These advisories were confined to national highways, not state ones, only because the Centre has no jurisdiction over state highways. Hon’ble court has permitted this based on the renewal period which is April to March for some states, October to September for some.