Enhancing the uncertainty over the fate of the Kerala Government's total-liquor-ban-in-ten-years programme, a division bench of the High Court on Tuesday extended the permission given on October 31 to bars at two-star and three-star hotels to function till December 12. As per the earlier order, these bars were to close by the end of this month. The division bench comprising Justices KT Sankaran and PD Rajan also rejected the Government's plea for staying an October 30 verdict of a single-judge bench allowing bars at four-star and heritage hotels in the State to continue functioning.
However, the court admitted the Government's appeal challenging the October 30 verdict permitting four-star and heritage hotel bars to function. The division bench said that detailed hearing of arguments was necessary to take a decision on the Government's request for staying the order.
In the appeal filed by the Secretary, Department of Taxes, the Government argued that more hotels were approaching it with applications for bar licences in the four-star and heritage hotels categories in the context of the permission granted to them. The Government said that the decision to close such bars was part of the liquor policy it had declared after detailed discussions.
According to the liquor policy, the Government declared on August 22, all bars except those in the five-star category were to be closed down immediately. However, this plan got derailed with the single-judge bench allowing bars at four-star and heritage hotels to function and a division bench giving temporary permission to all the two-star and three-star bars to be in operation.
The Government submitted to the court on Tuesday that it had the authority to impose controls on the liquor trade or to ban it and that it was improper on the part of the Judiciary to interfere in it as far as it had not indentified bad intentions in such move. It also questioned the findings of the single-judge bench about the quality standards of the four-star and heritage hotel bars.
The court permitted the owners of two-star and three-star hotel bars to function till December 12 by granting their request to let them operate these bars till the final arguments in the case. This was mentioned in the appeals they filed challenging the October 30 verdict of the single-judge bench which partially upheld the Government's liquor policy.
The division bench will begin hearing the arguments on the appeals filed by both the Government as well as the bar owners on December 3. The court directed the Government to produce all relevant materials connected with its liquor policy and the case. Though the bar owners wanted the hearing to be deferred till January, the court did not accept this.
However, the Government has not yet filed an appeal against the court's November 10 order to close the retail liquor outlets on the sides of all national and State highways and shift them to appropriate areas despite the fact that Excise Minister K Babu himself had described the order as impractical.
Meanwhile, the row in Kerala's Congress over State party president VM Sudheeran's statement on Monday that neither the party nor the ruling UDF it was leading wanted the money or vote of liquor traders continued on Tuesday. Sudheeran had also said that the Congress would not field boozers as candidates in elections.
Criticizing Sudheeran sharply, former State party chief K Muraleedharan MlA said that election victories were impossible without "notes" and votes. "Sudheeran has fought nine elections and won eight of them. Would he say that he had won all those elections without the votes of liquor traders and boozersIJ" he asked.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Excise Minister K Babu (all from the Congress) and leaders of other constituent parties in the UDF had come out against Sudheeran's statement on Monday itself.