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After over two months of legal jugglery, with the Kerala Bar Association going even to the Supreme Court against the government order which directed the High Court to take up the matter under instruction, the High Court upheld the state government's decision, and ordered the closure of all the bars in two and three-star hotels in the state by Thursday evening.
As what might be considered some reprieve, the HC allowed the four-star and heritage hotels to continue selling wine and liquor. "Only four and five star hotels and heritage hotels can operate bars. Other bars need to shut down," the court ruled. This includes those run by the government owned Beverages Corporation (Bevco). The HC has also upheld the government's decision to make Sunday a dry day.
The Kerala Bar Owners Association has decided to approach the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict. Interestingly, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court had reportedly struck down in July 2012 as discriminatory and arbitrary the amendments proposed by the government to the Foreign Liquor Rule, 2011 which denied bar license to new three-star hotels and prescribed distance norms for sanctioning bar license to new hotels having four-star rating and above.
In August, the UDF government in Kerala had decided to close over 700 liquor outlets in the state and allow only the bars in five-star hotels in order to achieve complete prohibition in the next ten years.
The bar owners in Kerala had called the Order of the UDF coalition government in August to shut down over 700 liquor retail shops and allow only the bars in 5-star hotels discriminatory and arbitrary and had approached the Supreme Court which had stayed the government's decision till September 30.
For three weeks a single judge bench of the High Court presided by Justice K Surendra Mohan had heard around 83 petitions filed by bar owners. After the hearings, the petitioners had been waiting for almost a month for the judgment.
Justice Mohan said the excise policy for 2014-15 was formulated on the basis of judgments of High Court and the Supreme Court and report of a one-man commission and recommendation of Tax Secretary of the state. He also relied on the apex court verdict that the state would not deny bar licences to hotels with the classification of four stars and above, the judge said. He also held that no materials had been placed before it to justify the conclusion that the August 22 policy was not supported by a decision of council of ministers.
The government order had been quiet about the status of the 111 wine/beer parlours in the State. Our resources inform us that the internal approved policy will let them continue selling beer and wine. Around 55 of them are already operational. The government is now soon to announce the opening of the balance parlours also, hopefully in a bid to delink wine and beer from liquor which has been causing havoc in the state, making it the second largest state in India in alcohol consumption.
Prohibition is already active in a few Indian states, including Gujarat, Mizoram, Nagaland, parts of Manipur and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Whether it is successful or whether these states have become a bootlegger’s paradise, is a matter for another article. Suffice it to say that everything in alcohol is available against order-at a higher price without the State getting any of the taxes-Gujarat is a glaring example.
For earlier related articles read Kerala Faces Partial Prohibition in Phases
Blog: Doomed Drinking Denizens of Kerala
Subhash Arora
Tags: Prohibition, Beverages Corporation (Bevco), Kerala Bar Owners Association, Kerala |