A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday upheld a government order closing down 22 retail outlets of the Kerala State Beverage Corporation and four outlets of Consumerfed as part of the government policy to close down 10 per cent of the liquor outlets every year.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Shaffique, while dismissing a public interest petition against the order, said the decision to close down 10 per cent of the shops was a policy decision.
Government should decide
It was for the government to take appropriate decision. The order could not be quashed. According to the petitioner, P.S. Ramesh of Palakkad, no criteria had been followed while identifying the outlets to be closed down. The government had arbitrarily selected the shops.
Though the High Court directed the government to close down outlets near the highways, the outlets were still functioning by the side of the State highways, he alleged.
