KANNUR: Even as a legal battle has led to the closure of all the liquor outlets along the national highway in Mahe, their owners are pinning hopes on the move of the Central and state governments to either bring an ordinance to bypass the apex court order which led to the situation or to ‘denotify’ the highways into major district roads which would allow the outlets to remain at the existing places.
Arun Sebastian, president, Mahe Liquor Merchants Association, said the court order has not only affected their outlets, but would also cause a dip in the state revenue.
He said there was a move by the Central government to soon introduce an ordinance to pass the Draft Model Policy on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages - 2006, which would help the outlets in the municipalities to remain at the existing spots.
Similarly, the state government too can denotify the state highways, he said. C Ashok Kumar, legal officer, Mahe Liquor Merchants Association, said the issue has been taken up with the Centre.
By denotification of the state highways the government can overcome the court order, as has been done in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh. The closure of the 32 outlets in Mahe has caused a loss of Rs 60 lakh per day and over 500 people have been rendered jobless.