Liquor ban across highways: Kerala's beer parlours in SC

Several Kerala-based beer and wine parlour owners on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court seeking clarification of its order to shut down liquor vends within 500 metres of national and state highways from April 1. The matter was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices R K Agrawal and Deepak Gupta which said the plea would be heard after the summer vacation in July.

The applicants told the court that they were granted FL-11 licence in different categories by the excise department of Kerala and their licences were renewed on March 31 for a period of one year.

The FL-11 licence pertains to the sale of beer and wine for consumption by public in a separate room in a beer and wine parlour. They have claimed that after the apex court's March 31 order, the excise department "started threatening" them not to operate their hotels, bars, restaurants and beer and wine parlours which are situated within a distance of 150 metres to 350 metres from national and state highways.

The applicants have sought a clarification from the court that its order does not apply to the service of beer and wine parlours as they serve material which contains alcohol below 6 and 12% respectively. Agencies