Curbs on liquor sale do not extend to municipal areas: SC
- The Supreme Court has asserted that its December 2016 ban on the sale of liquor within 500 metres of the outer edge of national and State highways will not extend to municipal areas.
Key Highlights
- The March 2023 order had set aside a Madras High Court decision confirming the permission granted by the Puducherry Excise Department to a liquor retailer
- The residents’ society, Kanagachettikulam Makkal Podhunala Eyakkam, had moved the High Court against the shifting of the liquor shop
- It asserted that the establishment was hardly 150 metres from temples, mosques and educational institutions.
Ban on the sale of liquor within 500 metres
- The court prohibited signages and advertising of availability of liquor on highways and ordered the existing ones to be removed forthwith from both national and State highways. It noted that the highway should be absolutely free from any distraction or attractions.
- Neither should they be directly accessible from the highways nor should they be situated within a distance of 500 metres from the outer edge of the highways or service lanes.
- One of the pleas noted that, India being a signatory to the Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety
- It is imperative that policy guidelines are framed to control road accidents.
- The exercise policies of Indian states and Union territories should be amended to conform to the spirit of Article 47 & Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Prelims Takeaway
- Brasilia Declaration
- Article 47