HYDERABAD: With the Supreme Court clarifying on Wednesday that the highway booze ban would preclude the stretches of national highways (NHs) and state highways (SHs) passing through cities, excise officials estimate that only 20 shops will be affected.The apex court declared that the wine shops and bars located on NHs and SHs within the city limits are exempted from the ban.
Thus, the state dropped its plans to denotify the NHs and SHs in the municipal limits. The verdict is also applicable to nagar panchayats, say official sources. A nagar pachayat’s limit is 220 metres and most of the wine shops are within the limits. If there are any wine shops outside, they will be relocated within the nagar panchayats, the sources explained. Meanwhile, excise officials have indicated that the total number of slabs for allotting wine shops and bars will be reduced from six to three.