Govt to shut down 700 bars under the new abkari policy
The Supreme Court had asked the High Court to dispose of the petitions and directed the state to maintain status quo permitting bars to function till September 30. (Photo: DC/File)
Kochi: The state government will file a counter-affidavit before Kerala High Court on Tuesday defending its new abkari policy and subsequent decision to shut down all existing bars except the ones having five-star facility.
Justice C.T. Ravikumar will consider the affidavit as per the directive of the apex court. The Supreme Court had asked the High Court to dispose of the petitions and directed the state to maintain status quo permitting bars to function till September 30. At present, petitions filed by bar owners are pending before the single bench.
Mr Kapil Sibal will appear for the state government.
According to sources, Advocate-General K.P. Dandapani has given the nod for the state to rope in Mr Sibal. This will be the first time the UDF-led government brings in a top lawyer from outside Kerala. The single bench will consider the petitions on September 18. Sources revealed that Mr Sibal will not appear for the state during the initial hearing but only for the final hearing.
The government which decided to shut down 700 bars currently functioning in the state planned to implement the new abkari policy from October 2, 2014. According to the state, the plan is to close 10 percent of outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation and Consumerfed on an annual basis. If things go as per the plan, 34 outlets of Beverages Corporation out of the total 318 and five out of 44 Consumerfed outlets will be closed this year.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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