The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday suo motu impleaded the Principal Secretary to the Home, Prohibition and Excise Department and the Managing Director of Tasmac as respondents in a public interest litigation petition that sought the closure of a Tasmac shop near Palliagraharam bus stop in Thanjavur.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S.S. Sundar observed: “The ruling party gave an assurance in their party’s election manifesto that in a phased manner Tasmac shops would be closed in Tamil Nadu. However, many Tasmac shops are said to be opened in Tamil Nadu every day contrary to the assurance given by the ruling party in the poll manifesto for the elections held in 2016”.
Like in previous cases, the court put forth a set of queries for the State to respond. It wanted to know the number Tasmac shops set up prior to 2016, the number of outlets closed since then, shops opened after 2016 and the income earned since 2016 and when all the liquor shops would be closed down.
The court sought for a district-wise breakup on the data in the report.
MD summoned
It summoned the Managing Director of Tasmac asking him to inform the court on the details on March 4. The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Mahendran of Thanjavur. It granted an interim injunction and adjourned the hearing to March 4.
