PANAJI
The Supreme Court has given the newly formed state government headed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar its first major setback, as it absolutely gave no relief to bars and restaurants in its December 2016 order, which had banned the sale of alcohol along national and state highways and within 500 meters distance from the outer edge of these highways.
The apex court has clarified that its ban on the sale of alcohol along highways from April 1 is applicable to bars, hotels and restaurants along with liquor shops. Based on the opinion of senior legal officers, the state government had directed the Excise Department to keep bars, restaurants and tavernas out of the purview of court’s order. It said their licenses could be renewed.
The government’s direction was based on the opinions of former Advocate General of Goa Saresh Lotlikar and Attorney General of India Mukul Rohatgi. Both Lotlikar and Rohatgi had earlier opined that the SC’s order was applicable only to liquor shops and not to bars, restaurants and hotels.
Of 3,178 alcohol licenses in Goa, which will not be renewed due to the SC’s order, 2,290 are tavernas, bars and restaurants, 789 are liquor shops and 99 are wholesale shops. In short, more than two-thirds of all alcohol businesses facing the axe are tavernas, bars and restaurants in the state.
Based on Lotlikar’s and Rohatgi’s opinions, expectations were that majority of alcohol licenses along highways wouldn’t get affected, as they fall under the category of bars and restaurants, but that wasn’t to be the case.
Meanwhile, the court has given a relief by saying that the limit of 500 meters from the outer edge of highways should be reduced to 220 meters in case of areas in local bodies having a population of upto 20,000. It remains to be seen how many liquor licenses will get relief due to this part of the SC’s judgement in Goa.
This will also require the excise department to do a survey of the state to find out areas with population of upto 20,000 so that alcohol licenses coming within 220 meters of national and state highways can be figured out.
Interestingly, the court has exempted the states of Sikkim and Meghalaya from its ban on account of their unique topography and terrain. There were expectations that Goa could also get such an exemption, as area wise it is much smaller than both Sikkim and Meghalaya.
Due to Goa’s small size, a disproportionate number of liquor shops, bars, restaurants, hotels and tavernas are along national and state highways, as these roads cut through most main parts of the state.
