|
The government amended the Punjab Excise Act yesterday (23 June), allowing hotels, restaurants and clubs situated within 500 metres of highways to serve alcohol, saying it would help secure livelihood of a large segment of the population.
However, restriction on opening of liquor vends within 500 metres of highways will stay as per the directions of the Supreme Court. "With this new amendment, all ambiguities pertaining to serving of liquor at hotels, restaurants and clubs near the Highway will be removed, according to a senior government official as told to TOI
The amendment Bill 2017, with regard to the Punjab Excise Act, 1914, was tabled in the ongoing Budget session and was cleared on June 19 by the cabinet.
According to Tribune the law has been amended by using the term “supply or service” instead of “sale”, thus allowing serving of liquor. To check drunken driving and alcohol-related accidents, the Supreme Court banned the sale, not consumption, of liquor, clarified an official.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Brahm Mohindra, while moving the amendment, reportedly said that the absence of liquor supply at these places had seriously affected their existence and their partial closure threatened to create substantial unemployment in the state.
He said the state had implemented the SC order in toto but its side effects were hurting business. However, he said, the ban on sale of liquor in vends within the stipulated distance from highways and service lanes would be implemented. He also announced more stringent police action to check drunken driving.
According to the bill, the restaurants and hotels are a part of the hospitality and tourism industry which generates substantial employment in the state. Absence of liquor may create substantial unemployment in the state," says the Bill.
Liquor is a huge business in Punjab; it is the second highest liquor consuming state after Kerala. The recent auction of vends had generated Rs 2,600 crore in revenue. Meanwhile, a disappointed Harman Sidhu of NGO ArriveSafe, who had petitioned for a ban on liquor sale along highways, has termed it illegal and contempt of court.
Will Maharashtra be next
It would be interesting to see if other States like Maharashtra and Haryana adopt a similar posture to support the hotel and restaurant industry which is losing revenues and causing unemployment and is presumably losing in tourism revenues.
For now Maharashtra government seems to have preferred to follow the Supreme Court’s order. The industry representatives also don’t think that the state government will change its stance on the ban on the sale of liquor near highways in Maharashtra. The state excise officials said that the Maharashtra government would stick to the Supreme Court’s order. “There is no such move in Maharashtra like Punjab. We will follow the orders given by the Supreme Court,” an official from the excise department said, according to a report in Asian Age.
“The Maharashtra government’s stand was clear that it would not denotify all the highways. It is only if any municipal corporation approaches the government the proposal can be considered. The chief minister himself had told us the same,” says Adarsh Shetty, President of Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association.
Several private clubs in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Rajasthan located along state or national highways have already sought an exemption from the ban.
Telangana Denotifying
In the meanwhile, Telangana government in Hyderabad has commenced an exercise to denotify some key stretches of National and State highways where liquor outlets are in higher numbers. Supreme Court has asked State government to shift all wine shops and bars abutting National and State highways by September first.
Taking a cue from the denotification of some highways passing through Hyderabad by the Centre recently, the State Roads and Buildings department launched a search of some stretches which can be denotified across the State.
On the request of State government, Union ministry of Roads, Transportation and Highways denotified a 14 km stretch between LB Nagar and Assembly on NH- 65. Another 19 km stretch between Assembly and Miyapur on the same highway, 8 km stretch on Afzal Gunj- Aramghar on NH - 44 and 14 km stretch between Boinpally and Assembly have been denotified from National highways.
As a result, all the wine shops, bars established on the above mentioned highways were exempted from closure. Nearly 500 wines shops and 100 bars are not required to shift to other places. |