HC bins PIL against liquor store near Gandhi statue on MG Road

The high court dismissed a PIL petition against a bar on MG Road after a fresh land survey established that the store was well within the excise rules.

The PIL petition filed by advocate A V Amarnathan argued that liquor store Tonique was given the licence in violation of the Karnataka Excise Licences (General Conditions) Rules. The petitioner pointed out that a Gandhi statue, the Bal Bhavan (a theme park for children), a church and the offices of the deputy commissioner of police (central) are situated within 100 metres of the store.

Restrictions in respect of the location of liquor shops specify that no liquor shop shall be permitted within 100 metres of any religious or educational institution, hospital, government office, or in a residential locality whose inhabitants predominantly belong to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes. The rules also stipulate that no excise licence shall be granted within a distance of 220 metres from the middle of state or national highways, the petitioner stated.

During the hearing, a division bench observed that Bal Bhavan was neither an educational institution nor a government office. It also held that there was no embargo in the rules or in any other statute which applies to the grant of licence to a premises which is at a close distance from a statue of the Father of the Nation.

For the remaining two buildings, the state government clarified that they are not located within a distance of 100 metres of the store. The high court subsequently directed the jurisdictional tahsildar to measure the distance by conducting a fresh survey since the old survey was carried out before the petition was filed.

The government submitted the findings of the fresh survey which indicated that the liquor store is not located within 100 metres of the DCP’s office or the church. The court accordingly dismissed the petition.