Team Herald
PANJIM: While their counterparts in Maharashtra have challenged the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict banning the sale of liquor along highways, the Goa Highway Affected Liquor Vendors Association will wait for the new State government to approach the SC to bail them out of their current predicament.
Fearing that an independent plea might not hold much weight in the Apex Court, the newly-formed umbrella association has decided to adopt a wait and watch policy till March 11. “Even if Maharashtra (State Liquor Merchants Association) has moved the SC, it (court) cannot hear the application because of the code of conduct. It is therefore better for us to wait till the election process ends rather than rush on the matter,” GHLVA Convener Gaurish Dhond told Herald.
The association is currently preparing a report about the repercussions the SC order will have on local businesses and the State exchequer. This, Dhond said, will be submitted to the new government in a bid to convince it to challenge the order. “If the ban is enforced, the tourism sector will suffer a drastic drop. State will lose huge revenue and employment of locals will be at stake. The State has to take up the case (by challenging the order in SC). We will urge the new government to petition the SC as there is little time in hand before the order has to be implemented,” he stated.
Dhond, also President of Goa Hotel & Restaurant Association, that the association’s plea alone might possibly not have the weightage in the court. “Our case will be weak but nonetheless we are taking inputs from all local and national traders. The parent body is also consulting (SC lawyer) Harish Salve,” he commented.
The Excise Department is on the verge of completing its survey identifying the outlets which would be issued show cause notices. The taluka level teams headed by mamlatdar will submit their respective reports to the Excise Department on February 28.
