The news of Indian Supreme Court banning liquor vends along with the hotels and restaurants all across the country located within 500 meter of the state highways (SH) and the national highways (NH) came as a shock to everyone at the beginning of the fiscal year 2017. The situation went haywire when the operations of the liquor shops and pubs had to close down overnight due to the ban.
Now after two months of the liquor ban, many states in India are looking out for loopholes to restart not all but a few of the clubs and restaurants at five-star hotels. Recently, Maharashtra government has allowed some Pune clubs located near highways to resume back with their liquor servings. Kerala brings in a new policy to open bars at the three and four-star hotels. In fact, recently, Karnataka Chief Minister in his statement mentioned that his government doesn’t want to circumvent the orders passed by the Supreme Court but looking out for other ways to restart the liquor store across the state.
Why are few states in India looking for loopholes to avoid liquor ban
The main reason behind the relaxation on liquor ban state wise is that the state government wants to make up for the revenue loss that they are facing since April 1, 2017. Another reason, the state government are giving include the jobless situation for those who were working in the bars and restaurants that are now shut down due to the SC liquor ban.
Relaxation and other ways to avoid liquor ban
States and UT like Kerala, Chandigarh and others have either converted their highways into MC roads or have relocated all liquor vends, pubs and bars away from the 500-meter radius of national and state highways. In fact, Kerala has now literally set a new liquor policy in the state scrapping down the previous embargo and allowing liquor services in bars of 3-4 star hotels or at banquet halls during some occasions. Karnataka is also in the process of denotifying the liquor ban to help thousands of people whose jobs were dependent on these bars and pubs.
Let’s see what the various state government will come up with the quest for looking the other way out to denotify the liquor ban across India. Though the decision by the SC was taken for a good cause, the shutting down of liquor vends and pubs have come with many things at stake.
Source: ibtimes.co.in
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