Surprised to hear that a whopping 3,326 First Information Reports (FIRs) were filed against illegal bars functioning in State-run liquor shops in a short period between April and December last year, the Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered immediate closure of all illegal bars in the State.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad directed the Home Secretary to collect details of all illegal bars from the Collectors as well as District Managers of the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac), which runs the liquor shops, and make sure that they were closed forthwith.
Directing the Home Secretary to submit an Action Taken Report on February 20, the judges said: “Perpetuation of illegality is a matter which the courts take note of seriously.”
They told Tasmac counsel K. Sathish Kumar that no illegal bar could be allowed to remain open even for a day.
Prices above MRP
It was by chance that the judges came across the issue of illegal bars functioning in the State, when they were actually hearing a PIL filed by D. Prabakaran of Coimbatore district, complaining about sale of liquor in Tasmac shops at rates over and above the MRP.
During the course of hearing, the standing counsel for Tasmac submitted a list of instances when MRP violations came to the notice of the authorities.
He said surprise inspections by Senior Regional Managers, District Managers, Head Office Squads, Deputy Collectors and Flying Squads had found 4,411 cases of such violations last year.
A tabular column submitted by him to the court also stated that 3,326 FIRs had been filed against illegal bars. Shocked to see that so many unlicensed bars were functioning in the State and the authorities concerned had done nothing but to just get FIRs registered, the judges ordered that all those bars should be shut down.
“What is the point in registering a FIR and letting the people run the bars? Should they not be closed down?” Justice Manikumar asked. He said the district managers of Tasmac ought to have taken the issue to the notice of the Collector, who in turn, should have taken steps to close down the bars through the Superintendent of Police.