Owners of pubs, bars and liquor shops in the city are not a happy lot after the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a petition challenging denotification of state highways and municipal roads. The court has no problem with denotification of state highways and national highways, provided that they fall within the city limits.
The court observed that the ban extends to liquor sale only as long as highways remain highways, but there is still confusion if it will also include the national highways too. Tipplers in the city had a moment of joy after the apex court dismissed the petition, but it was short lived as the owners tend to differ on their version of interpreting the order.
Manu Chandra, a senior chef from the city, said, “The decision which came out today doesn’t help us in any way as it is generally for state highways whereas Bengaluru has national highways. There has been much news floating around that is not true. People need to do proper research before drawing conclusions.”
However, people following the case are still hopeful as the court, while dismissing the petition filed against the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision that allowed the state highways in Chandigarh to be denotified, has maintained that it is important to keep the intent in mind and there should be no case made out of circumvention of the SC order as long as the denotified roads fall within city limits.
For now, there are no cheers for pub owners within the city limits. Akanksha B, brand manager of Blue Frog, a pub in the city, said, “We had high hopes for July 11 decision but it turned out to be a bummer. It is a double-whammy for us because of the liquor ban and the roadworks on Church Street.”
