The Supreme Court banned on Thursday all liquor shops within 500 metres of national and state highways across the country, a move aimed at reducing drink driving and road accidents that claim thousands of lives every year.
Licences of existing shops will not be renewed after March 31 next year, it said.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur ordered removal of all signboards of alcohol vends along highways.
Last week, the bench made it clear that such an order was necessary for the safety and security of highway commuters who get tempted to down a few drinks after seeing liquor shops. It also expressed serious concern over 150,000 fatalities every year in road accidents, a majority of them attributed to drink driving.
The order came on petitions challenging high court verdicts that disallowed sale of liquor on highways.
The Supreme Court banned on Thursday all liquor shops within 500 metres of national and state highways across the country, a move aimed at reducing drink driving and road accidents that claim thousands of lives every year.
Licences of existing shops will not be renewed after March 31 next year, it said.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur ordered removal of all signboards of alcohol vends along highways.
Last week, the bench made it clear that such an order was necessary for the safety and security of highway commuters who get tempted to down a few drinks after seeing liquor shops. It also expressed serious concern over 150,000 fatalities every year in road accidents, a majority of them attributed to drink driving.
The order came on petitions challenging high court verdicts that disallowed sale of liquor on highways.
The courts had said liquor shops should be located away from highways so that they were neither visible nor accessible to travelers.
The top court came down heavily on states for not paying heed to the Centre’s constant advice not to give licence to shops selling alcohol along highways. Instead, the states have increased the number of licences. The first communiqué was sent in 2007 and since then the Centre has been sending reminders.
“You can start a door delivery of liquor,” the bench told the counsel for Jammu and Kashmir, who argued that people will face difficulties because of the state’s terrain in accessing the shops if they are put away from the highway.
“We would not like any vend on national highways, state highways, advertisements, or signage about availability of liquor shops. We will direct all highway authorities to remove all signboards. It should be absolutely free from any distraction or attractions. It should not be visible. Visibility is the first temptation,” Justice Thakur said.
The Punjab government’s counsel had faced the court ire.
“You are acting like a mouthpiece for the liquor lobby by defending the policy,” the bench told the advocate who pleaded the ban should be made effective from April 1 to avoid revenue loss of Rs 1,000 crore.
“You (state) are the vendor? You are speaking in the language of the liquor lobby. You have a responsibility to ensure people are safe. Constitution provides for prohibition,” it said.
“Every year you keep on adding, because you want to keep the liquor lobby happy. You want the excise minister to be happy, make the government happy … let 1.5 lakh people die but you must serve liquor?” the bench retorted.
The court was shocked to learn that there were 62 liquor shops within a span of a kilometer on the national highway in Mahe district, Puducherry. The place is a haven for tipplers from Kerala where drinking and sale of alcohol is prohibited.
The Chief Justice pointed out that the Centre had asked for the removal of these vends in 2007. But the Union Territory, which is under the Centre’s control, didn’t take any action.
