PANAJI
With the Supreme Court's order of July 11 excluding municipal areas from the purview of highway liquor ban finally being made available in black and white on August 23, the State government can now move to renew the liquor licences in municipal areas that have been affected by the order.
The move is expected to benefit traders from Margao and Vasco who were the most affected by the earlier order.
Sources in the State excise department have informed that as many as 450 licences could benefit from this -- a bulk of them in Vasco -- which bore the brunt of SC's initial order which meant that there would be no liquor available in the entire town given that three highways run through it.
"The purpose of the directions contained in the order dated December 15, 2016 is to deal with the sale of liquor along and in proximity of highways properly understood, which provide connectivity between cities, towns and villages," the SC said.
"The order does not prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas. This clarification shall govern other municipal areas as well. We have considered it appropriate to issue this clarification to set at rest any ambiguity and to obviate repeated recourse to IAs before the court," the Supreme Court said in its order pronounced on July 11.
In Goa, several iconic establishments stand to benefit from this judgement including that of Longuinhos in Margao, as well as several other establishments that were within the 500-metres of the highway that passed right through the town. In Panaji establishments like Ritz Classic (at Patto) Down the Road Pub and Bistro, etc which fell within the proximity of the Highway can also expect to see a ray of hope.
With the latest order, the number of affected establishments will reduce from 3400 initially to around 1300. Salvation for the remaining establishments that continue to be within the ambit of the SC order especially those in Porvorim remains bleak until Porvorim is notified as a municipal area.
"Directions did not prevent the Administration from re-classifying inter-sectoral roads within the city from state highways to major district roads. The exercise carried out by Chandigarh Administration does not breach the directions issued by this Court. It is neither in violation of the terms of the order nor of the purpose and intendment behind those directions," the SC also said.
The Supreme Court was hearing a petition filed by Arrive Safe Society which challenged a decision of the Chandigarh Administration to denotify roads within Chandigarh as State Highways as they alleged it was a deliberate move to circumvent the order of the Supreme Court with respect to sale of liquor along highways. The Punjab and Haryana High Court rejected their petition causing them to approach the SC which also dismissed the petition but also clarified that the order of December 2016 didn't include municipal areas. In Goa, the government has in the past promised to both denotify highways as well as offer other reliefs to the affected bar and restaurant owners but hadn't moved saying that the SC's order was not available.
