Kerala alcohol ban: Orders to bars, close by September 12
State government has decided to allow the existing 292 bars to function till September 12
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-08-27 04:57 GMT
Thiruvananthapuram: Giving some relief to tipplers as well as a section of bar owners, the state government has decided to allow the existing 292 bars to function till September 12.
A high-level meeting convened by Excise Minister K. Babu decided to give 15 days’ closure notice to all the 292 bars on Thursday. Out of the total 312 bars that are now functioning, 20 have five-star status and they will be allowed to function even after September 12.
A decision on the bar licence to clubs is likely to be taken at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The minister told reporters after the meeting that the norms for Beverages Corporation to buy back the balance stock from the bars would be relaxed.
The government will issue a notification in this regard soon. About Rs 40 crore needs to be returned to bar owners on account of licence fees. Mr. Babu said the government licence fee for beer parlours would be raised from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Requests for converting the existing bar licences to beer parlours would not be entertained.
He also said that the government was not against supplying wine in churches as part of rituals. The excise departments will strengthen enforcement and awareness activities in association with the Narcotics Control Bureau even from the school level.
The excise department has also mooted formation of 35 new excise ranges and deployment of additional staff at border check posts and excise intelligence units to strengthen enforcement, which would be taken up at the cabinet. Though the government was earlier planning to shut all bars without issuing any notice, it was widely criticised by some quarters as amove to help the bar owners get an advantage in the court.
Also the police and excise intelligence wings had pointed out that shutting all bars all of a sudden on the eve of Onam festival would help illegal liquor mafias and could even result in liquor tragedies. These factors compelled the government to give 15 days’ notice to the bar owners. The bars are likely to come up with fresh offers for tipplers to boost sales during Onam to sell off all the stock. There will be restrictions on taking fresh stocks by the bars.