After the Supreme Court upheld its verdict regarding bars and places serving alcohol close to highways today, it could be closing time for 34 bars and pubs in Gurgaon’s Cyber-Hub, and of 143 in total across the city.
A report in the Hindustan Times says that the SC order has come as a shock to the owners of the pubs and bars with the excise department to not renew their licenses.
In an order on December 15 last year, the apex court had held that “No shop for sale of liquor shall be visible from a National or state highway”. It implied that the bar or place serving alcohol should not be accessible from national or state highways directly and should be 500 metres away from the highway.
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Aruna Singh, the deputy excise and taxation commissioner of Gurgaon told the newspaper that while the department has not received the order yet, they will comply with the orders. She added that the department had already conducted a survey and submitted the list to the headquarters.
Gurgaon has a number of pubs/bars close to highways and within the 500 metres limit in CyberHub, Sector 29 market and Sohna Road. Rahul Singh, the Haryana chapter head of the National Restaurant Association of India told the newspaper that they are working with the authorities to identify such restaurants.
The owners are said to be in a state of panic and the loss in revenue to the state is said to be close to Rs 70 crore.
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“Restaurants are being targeted unjustifiably on a liquor vend act. The excise office is unclear on this stand and restaurants are being forced to comply,” Arvind Kumar, General Manager at The Wine Company, told the newspaper.
The report adds that a number of five-star facilities like Oberoi, Trident, Hotel Leela, Westin and Crowne Plaza also come under the red-zone marked out by the Supreme Court.
