Regulation of sale of liquor

Please guide me in relation to the order passed by Supreme Court for ban on Liquor sale from 01st of April 17 at all National cum State Highways with a restriction of 500 mtrs. I came across one such query on this topic was, whether there is any new restrictions imposed on "distance between two eligible liquor shops" going to open after 01st of April verdict, will also have to follow certain distance criteria between them. Is there any rule framed or amended in Maharashtra Excise after the verdict of SC or there is no restrictions on distance between two shops with FL-2 License !!!

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These are the directions issued by the Supreme Court of India in the case of State of Tamil Nadu V.  K Balu, that led to liquor ban on highways- 

(i)The prohibition contained shall extend to and include stretches of such highways which fall within the limits of a municipal corporation, city, town or local authority; (iii) The existing licences which have already been renewed prior to the date of this order shall continue until the term of the licence expires but no later than 1 April 2017; (iv) All signages and advertisements of the availability of liquor shall be prohibited and existing ones removed forthwith both on national and state highways; (v) No shop for the sale of liquor shall be (i) visible from a national or state highway; (ii) directly accessible from a national or state highway and (iii) situated within a distance of 500 metres of the outer edge of the national or state highway or of a service lane along the highway. (vi) All States and Union territories are mandated to strictly enforce the above directions. The Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police shall within one month chalk out a plan for enforcement in consultation with the state revenue and home departments. Responsibility shall be assigned inter alia to District Collectors and Superintendents of Police and other competent authorities. Compliance shall be strictly monitored by calling for fortnightly reports on action taken. (vii) These directions issue under Article 142 of the Constitution. 

The judgment above  can be found at this link- http://www.arrivesafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/arrive-safe-clarification.pdf

The Court therefore did not clearly mention anything about the distance between two liquor shops on the highway. 

Similarly, no such amendment or change has been bought about in the Maharashtra Excise Act  after the verdict of Supreme Court that concerns distance between two liquor shops. State action  with respect to the Supreme Court judgment has been only concerning notification of highways and city limits. 

 

Answered on November 2, 2017.
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