The State government on Friday contended before the Madras High Court that the Supreme Court has recently clarified that there was no bar on establishing liquor shops even within 500 metres from national highways and state highways if they pass through municipal areas which included corporations, municipalities and town panchayats.
Arguing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose, Advocate General Vijay Narayan contended that the apex court had gone a step further and given liberty to the State governments to establish liquors shops on highways that do not pass through municipal areas too if it was of the view that such establishment was necessary.
“For example, in Mahabalipuram, which is not a municipal area, the State may open liquor shops considering the fact that it is a tourist destination and there may be a requirement to open shops to cater to the needs of the tourists. Therefore, even outside the municipal areas, the State has been given the discretion to decide on case by case basis,” the AG contended.
Opposing a PIL petition filed by advocate K. Balu of the PMK to prevent Tasmac from opening liquor shops on highways passing through municipal areas, the AG said all other States had opened liquor shops on highways in municipal areas pursuant to Supreme Court clarifications.
Senior Counsel P.S. Raman, representing the South India Hotels and Restaurants Association, supported the AG’s argument that for the purpose of opening of liquor shops, the term ‘highway’ must be construed to mean only the stretch which begins from the outer limit of a city and ends at the outer limit of another city. The stretch passing through a city could not be a highway.
“The entire stretch of Anna Salai running for about 15 to 16 km in Chennai city is actually classified as a National Highway. It runs through the heart of the city and clubs such as Cosmopolitan Club are situated on this road. That does not mean that the clubs and hotels on this stretch could not be allowed to sell liquor,” the senior counsel argued.
On his part, Senior Counsel P. Wilson brought it to the notice of the court that the entire city of Chennai had been built around highways passing through various directions to various places. Earlier, the AG told the court that the State government preferred not to reclassify highways passing through city limits as municipal roads in order to get central funding for their maintenance.
