ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 26th June. Click Here for more information.
SC open to liquor sale on city highways:
Context
- A sign of relief may come to hotels, pubs as the Supreme Court on Tuesday prima facie observed that there may be nothing wrong in de-notifying particular stretches of highways running inside city limits as liquor-free zones.
- The court has scheduled a detailed hearing for July 11.
Change of stance
- As city roads and such de-classification does not violate its order that national and State highways across the country should be liquor-free zones.
- Roads in question do not normally see high-speed traffic.
- The objective of the liquor ban was to prevent drunken driving in fast-moving traffic.
- The pace of traffic within city is very different from the traffic outside city limits.
- The purpose of the ban is to avoid drivers getting inebriated while driving on highways inter-linking cities
Relief to Hotel and Pub owners
- The verdict in March 2017 also encircled larger establishments, including pubs and hotels, such a de-tour of the verdict is a great sign of relief to them.
- The court on March 2017 said exempting establishments other than “shops involved in sale of liquor”, which include bar-attached hotels, wine and beer parlours dotting highways would amount to dilution of its December 15 judgment’s objective to prevent drunk driving, one of the major killers plaguing Indian roads.