The Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) cannot go about establishing liquor shops and bars on agricultural fields, at bus stands, bus stops, marriage halls and even near court complexes just because there is no specific prohibition under the statutory rules on such establishment, the Madras High Court has said.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad took serious note of the issue when a public interest litigation petition for closing down a liquor shop established on an agricultural land at Mylambadi village in Bhavani Taluk of Erode district was listed before them for admission on Wednesday.
Shocked to hear that even a farm land had not been spared when it came to establishing a liquor shop, the judges wondered how Tasmac officials could accept such proposals even if the land owners, due to sheer greed for money, come forward to offer their properties either on lease or rent for operating the State-run liquor shops. They stated that a place used to grow food could never be used for supplying liquor. “Tomorrow if someone offers his marriage hall for establishment of a liquor shop, will you start one over there?” Justice Manikumar asked.
Disapproving of operating liquor shops with utter disregard to the sanctity attached to certain places, the judges said, it only showed the attempt by the government body to take liquor to the doorsteps of people. “And this reminds us of the proverb - you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink,” the judges added.
Referring to a liquor shop that was relocated from the Pallavaram bus stop in Chennai early this week after they pointed out that the location was wrong, the judges ordered that the liquor shop on the farm land at Mylambadi should also be relocated forthwith and a compliance report should be filed in the court by Thursday.
They also called for a report from the Managing Director of Tasmac by February 22 on the number of liquor shops functioning on agricultural lands across the State and impressed upon the need to amend the Tamil Nadu Liquor Retail Vending (In Shops and Bars) Rules of 2003 to prohibit such locations.
At present, the rules forbid establishment of liquor shops within a distance of 50 metres from a place of worship or educational institution in corporations and municipalities and within a distance of 100 metres in other areas. It also contains a proviso that the distance restriction would not apply for areas classified as ‘commercial’ and ‘industrial.’
Apart from these distance restrictions, there were no other regulations on location of shops. “That does not mean, you can establish a liquor shop right next to the High Court,” Justice Prasad told the counsel for Tasmac. The petitioner’s counsel recalled that there was indeed a liquor shop right opposite to the High Court before 2013.
