Even as the Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court for clarification, the apex court has made it clear that all municipal areas across the country are exempted from its highway liquor ban.
In a December 13, 2017 order, the Supreme Court, while hearing a series of applications from Maharashtra on the issue, made it amply clear that the exemption for municipal areas would apply to “other parts of the country”.
The court said the prohibition on the sale of liquor within 500 metres of National and States' Highways only extended to those stretches connecting cities, towns and villages.
“This will not operate to prohibit licensed establishments within municipal areas,” the court clarified.
The Tamil Nadu government had come to the apex court after the Madras High Court raised doubts whether the exemption granted to municipal areas in the July 11 order pertained to only municipal areas in Chandigarh and none other.
