Highway Liquor Ban:Kerala HC Directs Excise Dept. To Consider Permission  To Bars Along Highways De-notified Prior To SC Judgment

The High Court of Kerala has directed the Excise Department to consider applications afresh seeking renewal of bar licence submitted by bar owners situated along Cherthala-Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur Kuttipuram roads.

Justice Devan Ramachandran was hearing a batch of petitions filed by bar hotel operators who had been restrained from operating their bars from vending liquor, despite having validly renewed FL-11 licences under the provisions of the Kerala Abkari Act for the year 2017-18.

The Court's direction came, after having found that the said bars operated in areas  de-notified from State/National highways pursuant to a government notification issued in this context in 2014.The court also out of abundant caution,made it clear that the above applications would have to be considered afresh in due respect and compliance of the supreme court order  in 2016,delivered in K.Balu's case which banned the sale of liquor in outlets in State/National Highways .

“The Cherthala-Oachira-Thiruvananthapuram road between km 379.100 to km 551.900 being no longer a Highway, I am sure that the rigor of the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in V.K. Balu (supra) would not be applicable to the said road. However, the other directions relating to distance from any other National/ State Highway and direct access from any other National/ State Highway would obviously be relevant,” Justice Devan Ramachandran observed, directing the authorities to consider the plea within two weeks.

The court also  took cognizance of the fact,that the areas in the instant batch of writ petitions had been denotified by a Government notification from being considered areas belonging to  part of a State /National highway in 2014.The court further noted that the supreme court judgment on ban of Liquour outlets in State /National Highways had been however  issued only in 2016.The court hence said since the areas in question had already  been denotified, the Excise department would have to consider such applications for renewal of bar licence in the light of Government notification issued in 2014.The court however out of abundant caution, and in due strict compliance had further directed to process such applications following the parameters set by Supreme court in V.K.Balu's case delivered in 2016

Observing that in the light of the notification, the rigours of the SC judgment wouldn’t be applicable to the roads in question, the Court ruled, “In such circumstances, I order these writ petitions directing the Deputy Commissioner of Excise, having jurisdiction over the area in which the petitioners' shops/ Bars are situated, to consider the claim of the petitioners to continue to vend liquor based on the renewed licences they are holding strictly in terms of the parameters set forth in V. K. Balu (supra) and in my earlier judgment extracted above as expeditiously but not later than two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.”

The Supreme Court had, in the case of State of Tamil Nadu Rep. By Its Secretary Home, Prohibition & Excise Dept & Ors v. K. Balu, banned the sale of liquor within 500 metres of State and National Highways, including at bars, hotels and restaurants that serve alcohol. The judgment had justified its stand through the alarming statistics on the occurrence of road accidents. The order was subsequently modified on March 31, to provide the following reliefs:

1. In the case of areas comprised in local bodies with a population of 20000 people or less, the requirement of maintaining a distance of 500 metres from the outer edge of the highway or service lane, for the location of the liquor shop, shall stand reduced to 220 metres. This was because of the grievance that the entire local area may fall within the prohibited distance. The entire Himachal Pradesh would qualify for this relaxation;


2. The existing licence shall continue until the term of the licence expires but in any event not later than 30 September 2017;


3. Meghalaya and Sikkim, on account of their hilly and forest terrains, are exempted from the application of the 500 metre distance requirement.

You may read: SC Order on Highway Liquor Shops Faces Barrage of Criticism by LiveLaw Research Team

Read the Judgment here.