At least nine of the 11 hotel owners whose liquor permits have been revoked by the state government, following a Supreme Court ban on the sale of alcohol along 500 metres of state/national highways, have approached the Gujarat High Court, seeking a directive to the state government to restore their permits.
Representing the hoteliers, advocate MG Nagarkar presented each of their petitions before the first division bench on Wednesday, with a prayer for an urgent circulation. The court granted it, and the matter is likely to come up for hearing this week itself.
The petitioners contended that the state government arbitrarily decided to revoke their licence and put the sale of alcohol from permit shops in abeyance just to abide by the Supreme Court order. The state, however, forgot that the Supreme Court order was based on Gujarat’s prohibition policy. The state had issued them the permit after verifying all the rules and regulations in accordance with the Prohibition Act. The motive behind the SC ban was to reduce road accidents due to carelessness or negligence of intoxicated drivers, it said.
It further contended that in Gujarat, there are just 56 licence-holding hotels that serve 3.5 lakh permit holders and tourists.
All these permit holders are three-star and above hotels and resorts. Securing liquor permit is not an easy task in the state. There is a stringent prohibition policy in place and anyone caught with liquor attracts 10 years of imprisonment.
None of the permit holders have put up any advertisement or hording of liquor shop, they said. Most importantly, these shops can sell alcohol from 12 noon to 8 pm and, if found flouting norms, can attract punitive action. Even the bottles sold at liquor permit shops carry specific bar code that can be traced. The petitioners pointed out that of the 56 licence-holders, only 11 are located along 500 meters of state or national highways.
Their prayer is that the high court should intervene and quash the state government’s circular dated April 1, 2017, which directed the Prohibition and Excise Superintendent Department to ensure that the 11 permit shops do not sell alcohol anymore.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had rejected their interlocutory application on non-maintainability grounds. While a number of states have moved applications for the modification of the SC order, and some of them have been granted relief, the Gujarat government has not made any such move. The petitioners argue that though their hotels and resorts are located highways, with development, these highways have become integral parts of cities.
Hence, they should be granted relief.
The petition cited facts as well – like annually, sales worth Rs 32 crore will be hit because of the ban, which will effect a loss of Rs 7 crore in state’s GST (earlier the VAT) revenue, Rs 75 lakh in assessment fees and Rs 86 lakh in supervision fees.
The petitioners
1) Chryso Hotels, Ankleshwar
2) Sairam Krupa Hotels, Dahej Square, Bharuch
3) Hotel Hari Mangla PVt Ltd, Bharuch
4) Shri Real Wine, Hotel Surbhi Regency, Anand
5) Shree A & A company, Hotel La Casa Inn, Anand
6) Atithya Inn Pvt Ltd, Novotel Hotel, Ahmedabad
7) Tree Top Resorts and Spa Pvt Ltd, Bhavnagar
8) Hotel Arti International Pvt Ltd, Mundra Kutch
9) Horizon Hospitality, Pij Square, Kheda
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