Telangana govt seek to ease SC liquor rule

Excise officials said it would be difficult to relocate such a large number of outlets by the March 31 deadline stipulated by the Supreme Court.

​Hyderabad: The government is trying to mobilise the support of other states to file a review petition in the Supreme Court over its recent orders to close liquor shops and bars located within 500 metres of national highways.

The state government wants the distance to be reduced to 50 or 100 metres. The court had ruled against liquor shops near highways to restrain drivers from having easy access to liquor. This was part of an attempt to stem the rising number of accidents on highways.

The government wants clarity on whether the 500-metre norm would be applicable to national highways passing through the core areas of cities and towns. Over 160 shops are located in the core areas of the capital but fall within 500 metres of national highways passing through the city.

The Telangana state Excise department has approached its counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu and convened a meeting next week on ways to proceed on the issue.

Statewide, the government will have to close 1,140 out of 2,140 liquor shops. The state has over 800 bars, of which 450 face closure due to the new rule.

Excise officials said it would be difficult to relocate such a large number of outlets by the March 31 deadline stipulated by the Supreme Court. They are also encountering stiff resistance from shop and bar owners.

“The excise laws need to be amended to implement the SC orders. Under the existing state laws, it would not be possible for the government to order their relocation. It can only persuade owners to relocate,” said a source in the Excise department,

Most owners have said they would not be able to recover the licence fee — between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 1.08 crore — if they shift by March 31. Their licence is valid till October, he said.

The national highways which pass through TS towns and cities include NH-44 (Adilabad-Mah-bubnagar), NH-65 (Zah-eerabad-Kodad), both of which pass through Hy-derabad, apart from NH-143 (Hyderabad-Chhattis-garh); NH-63 (Nizamabad-Chinnur) and NH-167 (Karnataka-Jadcherla). Parts of NH-30 and NH-61 also pass through Telangana state.

A majority of the liquor shops are located along NH-44 and NH-65 where licences were given to 300 and 200 shops respectively.