New Delhi, March 31: The Apex Court of India on Friday reduced from 500 to 220 metres the distance of liquor vends from highways in areas with a population of up to 20,000.
The December 15 order banning liquor ends up to 500 metres from national, state highways stands, the Supreme Court said. The distance relaxation also extended to hill states of Sikkim, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh, the SC bench comprising of CJI JS Khehar and Justices DY Chandrachud and LN Rao said
People who got licence for liquor vends prior to the Dec 15, 2016 verdict can operate till September 30, 2017. Others will have to shut down from tomorrow, the SC order said.
The court said this as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and several other senior lawyers including KK Venugopal, CA Sundram, Kapil Sibal, Rajeev Dhavan, Raju Ramachandran and others told the court that its December 15 ban was hurting the state exchequer and the order was unconstitutional.
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