The Excise Department has identified 28 beer and wine parlours as well as 11 outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited (Bevco) and Consumerfed in Kozhikode district that will fall within the ambit of the Supreme Court order banning liquor shops within 500 metres of national and State highways.
“We are planning to initiate action against them soon,” P.K. Suresh Kumar, Deputy Commissioner, Excise, told The Hindu .
He said there were 35 beer and wine parlours in the district and 14 outlets run by the Beverages Corporation. Of the two private clubs with bars in the district, the bar attached to one would be closed down as it was located within 500 metres of the highway. The Excise Department had asked the Public Works Department to identify the stretches of State and national highways in the district as part of implementing the court order.
Owners of bars and hotels, however, said they had no idea about the action being taken by the Excise Department. Byju, district secretary of the Kerala Bar Hotels Association, said they had not got any order from the government to close down the bars.
He said there was lack of clarity in the court order. “We hope the Supreme Court will clear the air on the issue. The State committee of the association has to take a call on moving an appeal against the court order,” he said.
The Supreme Court banned States and Union Territories from giving licence for liquor sale along national and State highways in a bid to curb drunk driving.
