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Kerala liquor bar row takes a new turn

THE ROW OVER closure of 418 liquor bars in Kerala, the state with the country’s highest liquor consumption, has taken a new turn on Sunday with the State Human Rights Commission directing the state government to renew the licenses of all bar hotels with two star standards.

Commission chairman Justice J B Koshy has given the direction while considering a batch of petitions filed by owners of the closed bar hotels, housewives and prohibition activists. Noting that several bar hotels with two star standards were functioning in the state, the order described the government decision not to renew the licences of certain others discriminatory.

The order observed that the owners of the two star hotels deserved equal treatment. The government cannot discriminate some. At the same time the commission also directed the government to permanently close all bars below the two star standards. The owners of the bar hotels approached the human rights panel after the high court refused to intervene in the matter. The court had asked the government to formulate a policy and consider the issue accordingly. However, the government has been dragging the issue due to lack of consensus in the Congress party, which heads the ruling United Democratic Front.

The foreign liquor bars in Kerala function on renewal of licences on April 1 every year. This year the government did not renew the licenses of 418 out of 752 bars, evoking the condition envisaging minimum two star standards. This was mainly because of the Lok Sabha elections on April 10.

It was intended to please the powerful anti-liquor camp led by the Catholic Church which is demanding total prohibition in the state. — news@khaleejtimes.com