New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on the application filed by Tamil Nadu government seeking clarification on location of liquor shops along national and state highways passing through municipal areas.
At the outset, a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud, orally clarified that the purpose of the July 11 order was only to clarify that stretches of highways running through municipal areas were exempted from the December 2016 ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres along national and state highways.
Justice Chandrachud made it clear that the exemption from ban applies to municipal areas across the country and not specifically to Chandigarh though the matter pertained to Chandigarh.
Appearing for Tamil Nadu government, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, submitted that the Madras high court had stayed the notification on liquor shops observing that the July 11 order pertained only to Chandigarh and not to the whole country.
The Division Bench had asked the state to get a clarification from this court and hence the present application has been filed. Justice Chandrachud told the counsel “why should the high court think like that?
If our order applies for municipal areas in Chandigarh it will apply equally for municipal areas across the country.” He said the purpose of the July 11 order was to prevent interim applications like these being filed.
Advocate Thananjayan, appearing for the PIL petitioner K. Balu, however, informed the court that the state was issuing notifications for location of liquor shops even on national highways without de-notifying the areas.
He argued that the July 11 order would pertain only to Chandigarh and not the whole country. At the end of the hearing the Bench said it would pass the orders giving the clarification.
