After Supreme Court order banning the sale of liquor within 500 metres of national and State highways has brought down the spirits of buzzing nightlife in Gurugram, many hoteliers near the NH-8 on Tuesday managed to find a way out to keep the spirit alive.
After the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department on Tuesday allowed 43 liquor shops to resume business after relocating beyond a ‘motorable distance’ of 500 metres from the highway, Ambience Mall and leela Kempinski shifted their entry gate so that they could serve liquor to their customers.
CyberHub entry near the Rapid Metro Station next to Shankar Chowk was moved further inside Cyber City to make a motorable distance from the expressway.
Several pubs and bars located in CyberHub, Sector 29 and premier hotels like the leela, Trident, Oberoi and Westin have not been able to sell liquor because of proximity to the NH-8.
Many hoteliers whose pubs have been closed have alleged that measuring techniques employed by the Haryana Excise and Taxation department are not reliable.
Meanwhile, several States are also looking at measures like denotifying highways while others are thinking of moving court to seek exemptions, amidst concerns of the hospitality sector and fears of revenue losses following an apex court order.
Rajasthan and Punjab Governments denotified the bypassed stretches of State highways and turned them into a part of the city roads.
Both Punjab and Rajasthan Governments said that the denotified roads were bypass stretches. It had nothing to do with the SC order, they added.
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is in a fix as they have received peculiar requests to denotify national highways when the Centre plans to take the length of such roads to 2 lakh km from the existing about 1 lakh km.
“The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has received several requests from the States to denotify some of their national highways stretches so that they could convert them as district roads,” an official said.
The official said that the Ministry has received a request in writing from the Union Territory of Daman to denotify some of its ‘NH’ stretches as liquor contributes a major part to the State revenues.
Others like Punjab, Telangana, Kerala, Goa and Haryana had also made such requests but that is still to come in writing, the official said.
Among the States considering moving court is Goa, whose Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said his Government is contemplating approaching the Supreme Court for proper clarification on the order, and possibly seek some special consideration for the state. Kerala too is considering going to the Supreme Court to “seek time” regarding the implementation of its order banning the sale of liquor along highways.
The Chhattisgarh Government has meanwhile constituted an 11-member committee to study the excise policy of other States where liquor is banned or is being sold under supervision.
The Kerala Government said it will seek time from the SC to implement its order banning the sale of liquor along highways, taking into account the “special situation” in the State.
The decision was taken at a meeting held by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan where it was also resolved to shift as many liquor outlets as possible in accordance with the law.
“The circumstances in Kerala are different from other States and it needs time to shift liquor outlets and implement the directive,” Excise Minister G Sudhakaran said after the meeting.
Sudhakaran said the Excise Commissioner has been entrusted with the responsibility to take necessary steps for approaching the Apex Court to seek time to implement the directive.
The Excise Department has estimated a revenue loss of Rs 5,000 crore to the State as a result of the Supreme Court order.
The Chattisgarh government has planned an 11-member committee headed by Ashok Agrawal, Secretary, Commercial Taxes department, to study the excise policy of other States where liquor is banned or is being sold under its supervision.
The panel members will visit Gujarat and Bihar where total liquor prohibition is implemented besides other States.