THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Excise Minister M Liju on Monday said that all aspects of abnormalities in issuing licences to bars in the state will be investigated.
Speaking to the media in Delhi, the minister said a bar that had been running as a beer and wine parlour for 12 years got the licence within 24 hours of applying.
According to the minister, the power to grant bar licences was handed to deputy commissioners by the previous LDF government through a rule amendment. “If a rule allows a closed establishment to get a star licence the very next day of applying, the rule itself is wrong and it will be amended,” he added.
He said the UDF government had told the High Court that new bar licences can be issued only on the basis of the liquor policy. The court accepted this and gave the government time till November 30. Despite officials being aware of this, they didn’t inform the government, he added.