THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The recent Supreme Court directive banning liquor shops within 500 metres of national and state highways will even impact toddy shops. The Law Department is likely to give a report in this regard to the government soon.
According to government sources, toddy comes under the definition of liquor as per the Abkari Act. Since the Supreme Court order stated that liquor shops should be at least 500 metres away from state and national highways, it could be applicable to toddy shops too.
However, the state government may seek clarifications on the matter from the Supreme Court. There are about 4250 toddy shops in the state, of which several are along state or national highways.
“We are awaiting an opinion from the law department on the matter. Once the opinion is received, further steps will be initiated,” an Excise Department official told DC. Law department sources said that they were in the final stages of preparing the opinion.
Sources in the industry pointed out that the maximum permissible alcohol content in toddy is higher than in beer and hence if beer parlours need to be shifted, it logical that toddy shops should be too. While the maximum permissible alcohol content in beer is six percent volume-by-volume (v/v unit), for toddy it can go up to 8.1 percent v/v.
Meanwhile, owners of five-star hotels and beer parlour owners in the state are also awaiting the government stand as they are of the view that the SC order would not affect hotels as they cannot be considered as shops.
However, government sources pointed out that even beer and wine too falls under the purview of liquor. Over 20 five-star hotels and over 350 beer parlours are either beside highways or within 500 metres.
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BEVCO) and Consumerfed have already begun steps to shift the shops along highways. About 160 shops of BEVCO and 25 of Consumerfed are within 500 metres of state and national highways.
