SC stays Kerala Govt. bar ban for a day more

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Kerala Government not to enforce its order to ban non-five-star hotel bars till Thursday, when the apex court will hear several petitions challenging the ban.

An apex court bench headed by Justice Anil R. Dave asked the Kerala Government to wait till it ruled on the matter.

The state government had passed an order banning the sale of liquor at bars and hotels below the five-star category.

The ban was to come into force from September 11.

Last month, in a bid to reduce the availability of liquor across the state, the Kerala Cabinet sanctioned the closing of 730 bars.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that several matters, including issues related to beer and wine parlours and clubs serving liquor, have to be incorporated in the new policy and will be taken up at the next Cabinet meeting.

However, all bars attached to five star hotels were exempted from this ruling.

Chandy had earlier on August 21 rejected the renewal of the liquor licenses of bars in the state, saying only bars in five star hotels will be able to renew their liquor licenses. He also declared that retail liquor outlets will be reduced by 10 percent every year.

On September 2, Congress leader and former Minister of State for Human Resource Development and External Affairs Shashi Tharoor said that while the alcohol ban in Kerala is a popular decision taken by the Oommen Chandy Government, the loss of revenue must be seriously considered by the state government.

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, "I think it's a popular decision, and in a democracy, the government will always do what the public wants. But the truth is, despite it being a popular decision, there are some issues that have to be considered, particularly the loss of revenue for the state government and the implications of that for the state."

Tharoor stated that while the excise revenue on alcohol would fall sharply, even tourism may take a severe hit.

"With a tremendous 22 percent of the government revenue coming in through excise on alcohol, which would no longer be available, plus a severe hit to the revenue from tourism, which is another major source of the state government's budget, the question is how would Kerala be able to maintain its excellent record of social services and social development indicators?" Tharoor questioned.

Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country and experts feel that the state will incur an annual loss of Rs 8000 - 9000 crore due to the ban.