Supreme Court upholds Kerala's prohibition policy


The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the Kerala government’s liquor policy restricting service and consumption of liquor at bars in five star hotels only.
An apex court bench comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh in their judgement pronounced on Tuesday said that petitions challenging the Kerala liquor policy are dismissed and the Kerala High Court judgement sustaining the liquor policy is upheld.
The liquor policy, upheld by the apex court, allows service of liquor at bars in five star hotels only. Under the policy, the sale and consumption of liquor at the bars in hotels below five star is prohibited.
Kerala government, defending its policy, had said that those ousted from the business had no fundamental right to continue selling liquor at the bar.
Kerala government also contended that liquor was available in retail outlets and people can buy and drink at their homes. The state government had told the court that drinking at home, with wife and children present, will act as a discouragement.
The batch of petitions by the Kerala Bar Hotel Association and others had contended that the new policy under challenge was discriminatory to other hotels.  
The apex court on September 11, 2014, had asked Kerala High Court to decide the challenge to the notification. The high court in its March 31, 2015 order had upheld the policy, terming drinking at a bar a luxury.

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