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Madras High Court orders TN govt not to open liquor shops on highways for three months
April 25, 2017
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday nixed a state government attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court order on removing liquor vends from within 500 meters of state and national highways across India, including Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday, a two member bench of the Madras High Court comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice R Sundar, ordered the Tamil Nadu government not to open any liquor shops on state and national highways for the next three months and posted the petition challenging the state government attempt to make the SC order redundant by asking municipalities take over state and national highways.
The matter has now been posted for July 10.
Coming at a time when protests against TASMAC shops moving into residential areas were growing with each passing day, the High Court order is a shot in the arm for the DMK, which had petitioned the High Court against the Tamil Nadu government circular to municipalities to pass resolutions taking over the state and national highways.
Today’s interim injunction, issued after both the sides presented the arguments, stalls the government attempt to circumvent the SC order. The Pattali Makkal Katchi had also moved a similar petition.
Arguing against a recent circular by the commissioner for municipal administration asking municipalities across the state to come out with resolutions taking over state and national highways, senior counsel for DMK, P Wilson, said “this circular was illegal as also the state had no jurisdiction or power to take over national highways.”
“The municipalities also do not have the power to take over state highways,” the DMK counsel submitted to the court.
The DMK had promised total prohibition in the election manifesto for the 2016 general elections and its leader MK Stalin has been maintaining that his party will, as and when it came to power, will impose prohibition.
Stalin also castigated the state government for its lopsided priorities and alleged that it was more interested in reaching liquor to the masses rather than drinking water.
