A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday extended till December 12 its interim order directing status quo with respect to the closure of bars of three-star, two-star, and other hotels.
The Bench comprising Justice K.T. Sankaran and Justice P.D. Rajan, while extending order, adjourned to December 3, the hearing on the appeals filed by the State government against a single judge’s verdict allowing bars in four-star and heritage category hotels to function in addition to the bars in five-star and above category.
In its appeal, the government said the single judge went wrong in holding that there was no material to enable the government to exclude four-star and heritage category hotels from the criteria of eligibility to apply for a bar licence.
Besides, the single judge’s observation that the bars in the four-star and above hotels were not frequented by the youth or students and less-affluent sections and therefore there was no harm in allowing them to function was wrong.
Referring to the single judge’s observation that the government had not stated that it had rejected the recommendation of the Justice M.Ramachandran Commission, the government pointed out that merely because the recommendations were not accepted, it did not mean that the government had not considered the recommendation while formulating the liquor policy.
By permitting the renewal of bar licence of four-star and classified restaurants, the single judge had diluted the policy of the government which was beyond the power of the court. The court should not have interfered with the government policy in the absence of any allegation of mala fides, the appeal contended.
