In a relief to liquor merchants and owners of bars and restaurants, the High Court of Karnataka reduced the duration of the ban on the sale of liquor in view of the byelection to the Legislative Council from the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency to 18 hours each on the days of voting (Friday) and counting (February 20).
The court’s Wednesday order has reduced the total period of ban on the sale of liquor from 73 hours to 36 hours. The ban is applicable in the limits of Bengaluru Urban district and Bengaluru city.
Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar passed the interim order on a petition filed by Bruhat Bangalore Hotels’ Association and owners of a few bars and restaurants.
The petitioners had questioned the ban imposed by the Deputy Commissioner, Bengaluru Urban district and the Commissioner of Police (CoP), Bengaluru city in separate notifications issued on February 1 and 6, respectively, contending that the duration of the ban would adversely impact their business.
The DC had banned the sale of liquor by declaring a ‘dry day’ from 5 p.m. on Wednesday till 6 a.m. on Saturday in the areas coming under his jurisdiction in view of the bypoll. The ban would be in force for a total period of 61 hours in Bengaluru Urban district.
The CoP had banned the sale of liquor from 5 p.m. on Wednesday till midnight of Friday for polling and again from 6 a.m. till midnight on February 20 in view of the counting of votes in the limits of the city police commissionerate. The ban was for a total of 55 hours for polling, and 18 hours for counting, that is total 73 hours in Bengaluru city limits.
No nexus with object of ban
Also, the court considered the contention of the petitioners that the current election is not a general election, and the constituency contains only 16,063 voters, who are registered teachers of a total population of around 85 lakh. Among the registered voters, 10,106 are women and 5,592 are men, and five are transgenders.
Pointing out that the aim and object of the law banning the sale of liquor during polls is a measure for a peaceful and fair election in order to ensure that the electorate is not influenced in any manner, the court said that prima facie, going by the nature and class of voters in the current election, the duration of ban on the sale of liquor imposed does not have any nexus with the object of the ban and is clearly excessive.
Impact on business
The petitioners pointed out that the total loss of revenue due to a ban spanning 73 hours would be around ₹450 crore, and the loss to the State exchequer would be around ₹200 crore. Business would be severely affected on February 14, which is Valentine’s Day, as many events are scheduled on this day every year. The sale of liquor on Valentine’s Day would be 50% higher when compared to other days of business, they claimed.
