PANAJI
Besides, lives of a number of people dependent upon such liquor shops for their living too will be hit. The SC has taken this action in the light of high number of deaths occurring due to drunken driving on highways in India every year. The idea is not to have liquor shops along highways, which otherwise tempt people to consume alcohol.
Meanwhile, the apex court had also constituted a committee, which had recommended in 2015 that there should be a ban on sale of alcohol on state highways and national highways.
Clearly, the SC is listening to this matter for sometime now, but liquor shop owners in Goa were still taken by a surprise with its latest order, as they were totally unprepared to bear its consequences.
Naresh Kumar Sani, owner of a liquor shop along the highway in Porvorim, said, “We have just three months left, as licenses will not be renewed after March 31, 2017. In these three months, should we do our business or worry about moving to some other location? We should have been given at least one year to plan our future.”
He continued, “There are minimum 7 to 8 government licenses required for a liquor shop. I have been given shops and establishment license for my liquor shop till the year 2020. But, it is of no use since my license will not be renewed after March 31, next year.”
Obviously, at the time of renewal of licenses, neither the administration nor the liquor shop owners could have foreseen such an order by the SC.
What makes the situation even more complex in Goa is the fact that alcohol licenses in the state are not rationed like other parts of India. This means anyone can get a license to sell alcohol by meeting certain criteria in Goa, which is not the case with many other states, where such licenses are rationed.
This has resulted in proliferation of liquor shops in Goa along highways. Excise collections on the sale of alcohol contributed Rs 315 crore to state exchequer in 2015-16, which is significant. This revenue too will be affected by the top court’s order.
Sources revealed that 11,158 alcohol licenses have been granted in Goa till date to liquor shops and bars. On an average, 320 new alcohol licenses were granted by the current state government between 2012-13 and 2015-16.
A large number of these are liquor shops along national and state highways in Goa, which are now facing extinction post March 31 next year.
Meanwhile, Menino D'Souza, excise commissioner, said, “We will have to adhere to SC order. We will have to amend Goa Excise Duty Act to get it in line with the order.”
