Bar owners say cheers as SC may ease curbs on liquor sale along highways

Owners of hotels, bars and clubs along national highways had reason to cheer as the Supreme Court on Tuesday suggested that its ban on serving of liquor at such outlets could be eased.

An SC bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said its notification of 16 December 2016 banning the sale of liquor within 500 metres of highways is only meant to curb cases of drunk driving on highways, adding that the ban does not apply to pubs located near highways inside city boundaries (See: Supreme Court directs closure of all liquor shops along highways).

The bench said roads within city limits could be considered internal or district roads, hinting that bars located inside city limits, falling within 500 metres of highways, would not have to adhere to the liquor ban notification.

The judges made the remark while hearing an appeal by Chandigarh non-profit Arrive Safe Society against the city administration's decision to denotify highways passing through the city, thus allowing liquor vendors to continue operations.

Following the ban, other states too had taken steps towards denotifying highways within city limits to bypass the ban. When the decision to ban the sale of liquor on highways was announced, there was a massive hue and cry among liquor sellers in city limits, but state governments soon spotted the crack in the SC diktat and started denotifying highways.

More than five state highways were de-notified in the state of Punjab, thus spinning them into city / district roads. Kerala, too, approached the apex court seeking temporary exemption for the state on the liquor ban order, claiming thousands would be out of job with no alternative source of income.

The SC comment on Tuesday is seen as an indication that the apex court could alter its notification barring liquor sale within 500 metres of state and national highways, thus giving state governments a free hand to denotify highways intersecting cities.

The Times of India said the SC would hear the NGO's appeal in detail on 11 July, and then take a final call.

According to bar operators and other commentators, while the SC's notification barring sale of liquor on highways was welcome considering the frequently registered drunk-drive cases on highways, freeways intersecting cities are busy points where high-speed driving is not a major worry.