Fate of 312 bars hangs in balance
Excise Minister K Babu to chair high-level meet on final decision
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-08-26 06:47 GMT
Thiruvananthapuram: With the government receiving a shot in the arm following the High Court refusal to intervene in the new abkari policy, all eyes are now on the high-level meeting on Tuesday which will take a final decision on the closure of the remaining 312 bars. The meeting to be chaired by Excise Minister K. Babu in his chamber at 9.30 a.m. will discuss the abkari policy in detail and finalise steps related to the closure of bars, 39 beverages corporation outlets, measures needed to enforce Sunday dry day from October 5 and rehabilitation of the workers.
The meeting will also deliberate on the legal aspects of the policy. The law secretary, taxes secretary, excise commissioner and senior officials of various departments concerned will take part in the meeting.
Though the government had earlier declared that there was no legal hurdle in closing down the 312 bars immediately, experts had advised the government to plug all loopholes before taking a decision. The government is now planning to give prior closure notices to the bar owners as part of natural justice.
As per the policy, the licence fee for the remaining period will be given back to the owners. The government has already made it clear that it was only concerned about the rehabilitation of the workers and a package would be chalked out for them at the earliest.