The Madras High Court Bench here on Friday directed Madurai Collector to inspect a pub at Vishaal De Mall at Chinna Chokkikulam here and find out if it was right to have issued FL3 licence to it under the Tamil Nadu Liquor (Licence and Permit) Rules of 1981 though such licence could be issued only to star hotels for serving liquor to their guests either in a common licenced room of the hotel or in the private rooms in which they stay.
A Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and G.R. Swaminathan ordered that the Collector should also ascertain if a star hotel was functioning in either the third or fourth floors, where the pub was established, as claimed by the counsel for the mall during the course of hearing. The judges made it clear that the inspection should be carried out either on Saturday or Sunday and a report should be filed in the court by Monday for passing further orders.
The interim directions were issued on a public interest litigation petition pending in the court since 2015. Advocate B. Stalin of Melur Taluk near here had filed the petition seeking a direction to the government officials to cancel the licence granted to the pub for serving liquor. The petitioner had claimed that it would be against public interest and safety to run a pub in a mall that has several shops, a multiplex and a food court visited by hundreds of people.