Chennai: The recent clarification by Supreme Court that the liquor ban does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas to serve liquor has come as a respite to hoteliers and bar owners in Tamil Nadu.
They expect the state government to immediately issue orders for reopening the hotels and bars by revoking the suspension of licenses.
If the government issues orders, which the hotel association expects to be delivered on Monday and thereby create conducive atmosphere for business, about 662 hotels where liquor bars were closed, would bounce back to ‘spirited’ business.
“We will be back to business, hopefully from this Monday. From November when the peak tourist season starts, tourists and conference organisers will start flocking to Chennai,” said T. Natarajan, Secretary, South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SHIRA).
On August 11, Supreme Court clarified that the December 15, 2016 order does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas. This clarification should govern other municipal areas as well, the court had said in the Arrive Safe Society - NGO of Chandigarh versus the Union Territory of Chandigarh case.
“In my opinion the Supreme Court judgment is very clear. Highways passing through municipal limits will not be called highways and 500 meters does not apply. There is no ambiguity at all. Already I am told that Karnataka and Kerala advocate generals have advised their respective government to allow all hotels within 500 m of state and national highways to operate,” Mr Natarajan added.
Speaking to this correspondent on Saturday he said Tamil Nadu government has sought the advocate general’s advice and hopefully by Monday the government would issue the order.
MICE segment will pick up
Chennai: The MICE segment which was worst affected in Chennai due to the liquor ban leading to cancellations of weddings, conferences and banquets, for four months from April, would see more activity once the government issues the order.
“If it is cleared now, at least from mid-November onwards tourists would plan holidays to visit Chennai because events like conferences and weddings are planned three or four months ahead,” Mr Natarajan emphasised.
The primary objective of hotels is to bring back guests. The price between April and now is the same and no hotel has revised the price since the last four-five years as the market is bad, he said and added that no specialty hotel is open for lunch. Only coffee shop is open for lunch as the demand for services are very low and dinner too has come down because certain delicacies like the Thai cuisine needed to be washed down with red or white wine or liquor or at least beer. And foreigners love their evenings with fish and beer.”
