Liquor vends within 500 metres of national, state highways to be shut from today

New Delhi: Liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways will shut down from Saturday.

The Supreme Court on Friday said hotels and restaurants falling within 500 metres on either side of the national and state highways cannot serve liquor.

While modifying its earlier order, the SC bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice L Nageswara Rao made it clear that the judgement banning liquor vends along highways would also be applicable to bars, pubs and restaurants as drunken driving leads to fatal road accidents.

On the issue of non-extension of liquor vends' licences beyond March 31, the apex court said the licences, which were given before December 15, 2016, will be valid till September 30 in case of Telangana and the same would be operational till June 30 in Andhra Pradesh.

Noting the 82 per cent forest cover in Sikkim and the peculiar hilly terrain in Meghalaya, the court said, "We are of the view that insofar as the states of Meghalaya and Sikkim are concerned, it would suffice if the two states are exempted only from the application of the 500 metre distance..."

However, the apex court did not give relief to Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. Both the states have been brought in the ban limit of 220 metres as applicable to local bodies adjoining the highways with 20,000 or less population.

The court had ordered a ban on all liquor shops along the national as well as the state highways and had made it clear that licences of existing shops will not be renewed after March 31.

The verdict had come on a PIL alleging that nearly 1.42 lakh people died per year in road mishaps and that the drunken driving is a major contributor.