Liquor sale banned till April 20

Anxious tipplers, who expected the government to ease restrictions on liquor sales after the first phase of lockdown ended on April 14, will now have to wait till April 20.

The Excise Department has issued an order Tuesday banning the sale of liquor till the midnight of April 20. Earlier, the sale of liquor was banned by the department till the midnight of April 14. Tuesday's order came after much speculations about the possibility of opening liquor stores from Wednesday.

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushing for more stringent lockdown, the department, keen on selling liquor at MSIL and CL-2 license MRP outlets, issued the order shutting all liquor shops.

Excise Minister H Nagesh told reporters that the department cannot pursue proposals for the sale of liquor now. "The prime minister has said that we must strictly follow the lockdown (norms). So, I don't think we can propose (the sale of liquor) now. It’ll be difficult to control the crowd and ensure social distancing at liquor outlets. So, I think it’ll be difficult to relax this till April 20 at least," he said.

On Monday, the authorities appeared to be keen on resuming the sale of liquor and photographs of preparations for the sale in front of MSIL outlets were shared widely on social media.