Liquor ban along highways: Supreme Court likely to announce modification order on plea of hotels and clubs in July

The Supreme Court Tuesday said it is likely to pass an order in 2^nd week of July on the plea of hotels and clubs seeking some modification on its order banning liquor sale, storage and consumption within 500 meters of state and national highways.

The apex court had directed that no liquor shop shall be visible and directly accessible from the highways nor it should be situated within 500 metres of the outer edge of the national or state highway or of the service lane with effect from April 1.

After the order, Pubs, restaurants and hotels located nearby highways went dry and hundreds of them were forced to shut their shops.

READ: Highway Liquor Ban: Hotels in Sohna road find new way to serve alcohol to guests

The Supreme Court order came after it noted that, “injuries caused in accidents due to over-speeding stood at 1.81 lakh while there were 48,654 deaths. 7,307 accident cases involving driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol were registered resulting in 7,398 injuries and 2,591 deaths.”

However, the apex court gave some relief to liquor vendors and relaxed the minimum distance from 500 m to 220 m for vendors from the highway in areas where the population is less than 20,000.