Court ruling has no mention of bars, hotels, restaurants: Lalit Bhasin, Bar Association

Source:- economictimes.indiatimes.com

NEW DELHI: Bar Association of India president Lalit Bhasin said the Supreme Court ruling on the highway liquor ban makes no mention of alcohol being served by hotels, restaurants and bars. He told ET that the industry could file another review application and that the government and excise authorities should not take any coercive steps in the meantime.

“The main judgement of the Supreme Court was delivered on 15 December, 2016, and that judgement dealt with the issue of sale of liquor by retail vends /shops close to national and state highways,” Bhasin said. “In the main judgement there is not a whisper about any prohibition on service of alcoholic beverages by hotels, restaurants and bars located close to the national highways and state highways.”

Bhasin added that the review order of March 31 also does not mention that hotels, restaurants and bars will be prohibited from serving alcoholic beverages.

“In the last paragraph of the review judgement, the Supreme Court made a passing reference to submission made by senior counsel that the court should clarify that the judgement applies only to shops involving sale of liquor,” he said. “The Supreme Court without making any reference to the hotels, restaurants and bars declined to issue the clarification.” Bhasin’s opinion had been sought by the National Restaurant Association of India after the March 31ruling. To be sure, the Supreme Court’s ruling last week on the highway liquor ban caught many in the hospitality by surprise because it seemed to contradict advice from two leading jurists.

The two — a former Supreme Court judge and a former high court judge — were of the view that the December 15 judgement of the apex court did not apply to the hospitality industry.

In December, the Supreme Court had directed states and union territories to cease granting liquor licences to outlets along the highways. No shops should be visible or directly accessible within 500 metres from the highways, it said. In its March 31order, the Supreme Court rejected review petitions and applications seeking clarification of the earlier judgement.

The two former judges had advised the Hotel and Restaurant Association (Western India) or HRAWI and the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) separately that the Supreme Court’s December order only applied to liquor vends and shops and not to restaurants, hotels and bars. ET has seen copies of the advice given by the two former judges. In the event, the Supreme Court said on March 31that its ruling applied to them as well, forcing a vast number of hotels, restaurants and pubs to stop serving alcohol to guests, leading to lost sales and tax revenue. The legal advice to HRAWI suggested there was no cause for worry.

“In my opinion, the judgement of the Supreme Court was not intended to apply to hotels/restaurants/bars holding valid liquor licenses,” it read.

“The discussion throughout the judgement, taken particularly against the backdrop of the facts leading to the judgements of the High Courts, suggests that what is prohibited is existence and visibility of a shop/vend for the sale of liquor within proximity of the national and state highways.”

FHRAI was told: “It is pertinent that the court did not seek to expand the scope of the government’s policy to hotels and restaurants. Thus, the order of the court applies only to liquor shops and vends and does not extend to hotels and restaurants located within 500 metre from the national and state highways across the country.” Legal opinion was sought because of the perceived ambiguity in the December 15 order.

“We took his views to various state governments and while some agreed, some didn’t,” said Pradeep Shetty, member of the legal committee at FHRAI. “Various industry bodies sought clarifications, extensions and a review of the previous order and we believe the hospitality industry got caught in the crossfire.”