Kerala alcohol ban: Supreme Court ‘cheers’ for 292 bar owners
Thiruvananthapuram: In a slight relief to the 292 bar hotel owners, their staff and thousands of tipplers, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the government to allow the existing bars to function till September 30.
The apex court also directed the High Court to expedite the proceedings on the petitions filed by bar owners and asked the state government to file an affidavit in the High Court before it considered the case on September 18.
The SC directions came hardly 12 hours ahead of the closure time prescribed by the state government to the 292 bar hotels as part of the UDF government’s new liquor policy.
Considering a batch of petitions filed by bar hotel owners and organisations challenging the government decision to close the bars in all non-five-star hotels, a Supreme Court bench comprising justices A.R. Dave and U.U. Lalit observed that if the intention of the government was prohibition, all the bars should be closed, irrespective of the starstatus.
“What is the logic in closing down bars in all hotels without five-star status all of a sudden and allowing bars only in five-star hotels? If the government is for total prohibition, why can’t they follow the Gujarat model?” the court asked.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the state government, submitted that bars were posing serious social concerns in the state.
Hence the government had decided to close down all bars. Senior lawyers who appeared for bar owners had submitted that the decision to close down only bars in hotels without five-star status amounted to discrimination.
It would also affect the livelihood of scores of bar owners and workers.
They also submitted that since the retail liquor outlets were not being closed down, the availability of liquor could not be curtailed by closing down non-five- star bar hotels alone.
In the wake of the Supreme Court directions, the state government has initiated a fresh round of discussions on the stand to be taken in the High Court
