PANJIM: After around 1200 liquor outlets in municipal areas were exempted from shutting down due to the Supreme Court order banning sale of alcohol within 500 mtrs of national and State highways, outlets in villages too could find relief.
The Supreme Court last week gave State governments the discretion to decide on facts, whether areas covered by local self-governing bodies or areas proximate to municipal pockets should be exempted from its nationwide prohibition on sale of liquor. On July 11, 2017, the court had exempted municipal areas from the prohibition.
In Goa, as many as 1,332 liquor outlets in village panchayats will heave a sigh of relief subject to Goa government’s consent. “The order is already on the court’s website. We will forward the SC’s fresh observations to the government for taking a decision. Once it gives its nod, around 1,332 outlets will get their licenses renewed,” a senior officer told Herald.
The purpose of the ban imposed by a judgement of December 15, 2016 was to prevent drunken driving along busy highways. In Goa, over 3,000 outlets came under the ambit. The SC thereafter, while upholding its earlier order, had slightly modified it by reducing the distance from 500 metres to 220 metres in areas having a population of up to 20,000. This saved around 1,203 liquor outlets from facing the axe.
The fresh directions come after States like Tamil Nadu sought a clarification from the court whether panchayats would also come under the definition of “municipal areas”. The States cited that in future, these panchayats might be developed in a manner similar to municipalities or some of them might be geographically proximate to an urban agglomeration.
