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Supreme Court Reserves Order On Liquor Ban Along Highways

An earlier Supreme Court order directed banning liquor vends along highways from April 1.

A liquor shop in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)
A liquor shop in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg)

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on pleas seeking a reconsideration of its earlier order to ban liquor vends along highways across the country from April 1.

The apex court was hearing a batch of petitions from some states, bars and hotel associations seeking a modification of its December 2016 order banning liquor vends within 500 metres of state and national highways across the country from next month. Some states, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Punjab, had sought relaxation of this limit.

Hearing in the matter had commenced Wednesday when the court had observed that it might reconsider its order.

On Thursday, arguing against the ban, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi asked what would happen to the small municipal areas which are on state highways and fall within this limit. Aryama Sundaram, counsel for the hotel and bar associations, cited the example of the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi, which is along the highway.

The court, in its December 15 order last year, called for a ban on all liquor shops along all highways and made it clear that licences of the existing shops will not be renewed after March 31. The apex court order also directed that all signages indicating the presence of liquor vends will be prohibited along the highways.

With inputs from PTI