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SC liquor ban: Bars on MG, Brigade Rd may lose licence

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BENGALURU: Over a hundred pubs and bars located around the prime M G Road in the city’s central business district area may have to stop selling liquor after June 30, because their excise licence may not be renewed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ban on sale of liquor along highways.

M G Road falls under National Highway 48 (earlier designated as National Highway 4), according to official records. This affects even Brigade Road and Church Street Bengaluru’s high-streets that are dotted with several pubs, bars and eateries.

“We can’t renew liquor licenses of establishments that are within 500 metres of a highway . Licences of only those that are not affected by the Supreme Court order will be renewed,“ Excise Commissioner Manjunath Naik said. “It was a shock for us, too,“ Deputy Commissioner of Excise (Bengaluru East) Shivana Gowda said.At least 133 establishments in the central business district area might be affected, he said.

“We received communication from the Public Works Department (PWD) that MG Road is a national highway on June 20,“ he said. “It turns out that all the highways in Bengaluru, especially NH 48 and NH 44, originate from the General Post Office.“

The State government, on June 15, wrote to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, seeking denotification of 77.64 kms of national highway stretches passing through Bengaluru. “We will have to wait and see if they are denotified before June 30, when excise licences come up for renew al,“ Gowda said.

National Restaurants Association of India’s Bengaluru chapter head Ashish Kothare blamed the State government for waking up late.

“It’s a catch-22 situation because authorities have issued challans to all establishments asking them to pay the licence renewal fee.Owners have to pay despite the uncertainty ,“ he said. “The government first wrote to the Centre seeking denotification of these roads in 2015. The Supreme Court order came in December 2016. The government woke up again just this month. Was the government sleeping?“ he asked.

Source:  Economic Times

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