Kochi: The Kerala High Court has asked the excise deputy commissioners of Kannur, Kozhikode and Malappuram districts to appear before it on June 14. A single bench issued the order on a plea filed by V.P. Ibrahim Kutty who sought to reconsider a court order granting permission to beer and wine parlours.
The government pleader said that as many as 13 licences had been renewed and the owners of these 13 bars had been directed to stop their operations. While six beer/wine parlours were allowed to open in Kannur , three and four were opened in Kozhikode and Malappuram respectively.
No liquor vending shops had been allowed along the Cherthala-Oachira-Thiruvananthapuram roads since the government was sure that these stretches continued to be the National Highway. However, there was some confusion about the status of the Kannur-Vengalam-Kuttipuram highway.
The court asked whether the deputy commissioners concerned had sought the views of the government when there was confusion about the status of the roads. It said that it was not true that it had directed the government to take steps to allow the bear and wine parlous to open. It had only directed it to consider the claims of the petitioners in the light of all the notifications and orders issued with respect to the National Highway.
The court also made a principal secretary, PWD, a party in the case and asked him to file an affidavit detailing the dates on which the Kuttipuram- Kannur road was denotified as highway.
The affidavit should state whether any request had been received from the deputy commissioners before issuing the orders and whether the PWD was aware that the roads were not denotified.
