Shiv Sena backs Supreme Court liquor ban

Joining hands with the Congress, the Shiv Sena has opposed the state government's move to denotify state and national highways to beat the Supreme Court's ban on liquor vends within a 500-metre radius from these roads.

Transport Minister Diwakar Raote has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, pointing out that the SC ban was linked to road safety. "At a time when local self-government bodies do not have enough money to pay salaries to their employees, the condition of highways transferred to them will become worse and this could lead to a rise in mishaps," said Raote. The Shiv Sena leader, who is also the chief of the State Road Safety Council, said the move to denotify state and national highways and hand them over to local bodies, like municipal corporations and councils for upkeep, could also be interpreted as a contempt of court.

The state government has handed over the Western and Eastern express highways to the MMRDA for maintenance, and similar moves have been initiated in Dhule.

The SC order states that any shop, restaurant, and hotel located within a 500-metre radius from national and state highways will not be able to sell or serve liquor from April 1 to prevent drunken driving and road mishaps. In Maharashtra, this will impact 15,699 liquor vends, which cover 61.53 per cent of the 25,513 retail licenses.