SC Exempts Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman From Highway Liquor Ban

The state argued that every road in Arunachal is a national highway & it has suffered a revenue loss of up to 50%.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday exempted Arunachal Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the ban on sale of liquor within a 500-metre range of highways.

Both now join Sikkim and Meghalaya as states and union territories exempted from the apex court’s 31 March order along with.

Every road in Arunachal is a national highway and the state has consequently suffered a revenue loss of up to 50 percent in the aftermath of the ban, it argued before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, and Justices DY Chandrachud and Justice L Nageshwar Rao.

In its arguments, Andaman and Nicobar Islands sought parity with Sikkim and Meghalaya.

The court asked Uttarakhand, which has filed a similar plea, to furnish more information before the matter comes up for hearing after a week.

On Tuesday, the same bench dismissed a plea challenging the denotification of state highways into municipal roads within city limits, saying there was nothing wrong with such reclassification as long as it was within city limits.

Besides, the court also rejected pleas of hotel and bar owners seeking exemption from ban on selling liquor within 500-metre range of highways. Petitions filed by hotel and bar owners from Tamil Nadu had sought exemption from the ban, saying they do not parcel liquor, but only serve it in their premises.

(This article was originally published on BloombergQuint)

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