The Supreme Court’s clarification that its liquor sale ban order will not extend to municipal areas has come as a major relief to the State Government which was exploring various options to offset the impact of the Apex Court’s order.
Of the 2,216 outlets sanctioned during the previous excise year, a total of 2,144 outlets were functioning across the State as there were no bidders for 72 outlets.
Of these, more than 620 liquor shops were expected to be affected with the ban on sale of liquor within 500 metres of the national highways.
State highway
The number along the roads categorised as State highways was 561.
According to senior Excise officials, an anticipated 256 outlets sanctioned under the bar category on the national highways and an additional 155 on the State highways were expected to be affected by the ban. This is in addition to over 580 shops that were expected to be affected in the panchayat limits. With the commencement of the excise year from October 1 coming closer, officials concerned held a series of meetings to evolve modalities to wriggle out of the piquant situation.
The options included declassification of certain pockets of roads from their national and State highway categories.
Major breather
“The Supreme Court’s clarification came as a breather to the department and we can now focus on formulating an effective excise policy for the coming years,” a senior official told The Hindu.
According to him, the department had decided to maintain the number of shops at 2,216 at the previous year’s level. The focus of the new policy would, however, be on simplification of certain procedures. Efforts had been initiated to ensure changes in the existing slab system.
Slab system
At present, licences were being granted in six different slabs based on different parameters including the population of the particular location. But, it was now being proposed to reduce the number of slabs.
Fine contours of the policy are expected to be finalised before September 15 after which it would be sent for the approval of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for his consent.