NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Bars and restaurants had reason to cheer on Monday after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that instructions will be issued to the excise department to exempt them from the Supreme Court order on highway liquor ban.
“The SC order is applicable to only liquor retailers and not to bars and restaurants. I have cleared the file directing the excise department that the SC order is applicable to only liquor retailers and not to bars, restaurants and wholesalers,” said the Chief Minister.
He said that the official order to the excise department would be issued on March 29 following the Gudi Padwa holiday.
The Chief Minister said that his clearing of the file is subject to the apex court hearing on petitions filed by liquor associations, state governments etc. An apex court hearing on a series of petitions was scheduled for March 27 but it has been postponed to the next working day.
President of Goa Bar and Restaurant Owners Association Michael Carrasco said, “We are thankful to the Chief Minister for saving us from closure.” He said that the apex court order threatened the livelihood of thousands of local bar and restaurant owners.
President of Goa Liquor Traders Association (GLTA) Dattaprasad Naik said that the Association would continue with its demand for de-notification of state highways to avoid closure of shops located along state highways. “If state highways are de-notified, about 400 liquor retailers will be saved,” he said. The GLTA will also be asking the excise department to change its way of measuring the 500-metre distance, he said. “We want the excise department to calculate the distance by accessible road instead of the perpendicular distance from highways method for measurement,” said Naik. The GLTA had estimated the apex court order’s direct effect on 789 liquor outlets.
Earlier, Naik had said that he was confident of the Chief Minister coming out with a solution to the issue of liquor outlet ban. However, on Monday, he said that the scenario looks grim for retailers.
In December 2016, the apex court ordered closure of liquor shops along highways to crack down on drunk driving. The order has to be implemented by March 31 with the apex court directing state governments to cancel the licences of liquor vends.
Goa’s excise department has identified 3,127 out of the 11,974 liquor licence holders (shops, bars, restaurants, taverns, etc) who have to close down their outlets for being within 500-metre distance of national and state highways.
State governments of Maharashtra, Sikkim, Chandigarh, Kerala, etc have filed petitions with the apex court seeking relaxation against the order. The hearing date was on Monday, which has been postponed to March 28.