New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Kerala government to the plea of the Kerala Toddy Shop Licensee Association seeking exemption from the order-banning the sale of liquor along national and state highways. A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud ,while issuing a notice, said it would hear on January 8, 2018 the plea for the interim order of stay from closing existing toddy shops which are within 500 metres of highways.
The Bench agreed to consider the plea for exemption to toddy shops after hearing senior counsel Raju Ramachandran who appeared for the Association and senior counsel V. Giri for the State. Counsel urged the court to treat toddy differently from other forms of liquor, owing to its low degree of intoxication. He said toddy only had about 8.2 per cent alcohol content and it was “traditionally” considered a “natural drink”. He quoted Section 3 of the Kerala Abkari Act 1902, to drive home the point that toddy was defined differently from other forms of liquor. Mr. Ramachandran said pursuant to the apex court’s order, about 1,000 toddy shops would be affected and already 200 of them had been shut.
Mr. Giri argued that liquor included toddy for the purposes of the Kerala Abkari Act, though it was treated differently. But he agreed that toddy had less alcohol content than other forms of liquor. When Mr. Ramachandran insisted on a stay of the earlier order considering the livelihood of thousands of people, the court said it would examine the request for interim order on January 8, 2018.
