Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi, Keralam Excise Minister M Liju on Monday said that it will be investigated whether there was any “unwanted hastiness” in the grant of liquor licences to bars by officials.
The officials were suspended for granting bar licences to three hotels in Ernakulam and Kottayam districts in violation of the government’s stand that no licences would be granted until a new liquor policy was formulated. However, under the existing rules, formulated by the previous LDF administration, licences were being granted within 24 hours to a bar even if it has been shut down for the past several years, the minister told reporters in Delhi. The minister said that there were several complaints regarding the grant of bar licences and therefore, a detailed meeting will be called to examine the same.
Liju said that the current government’s stand is not to grant licences without carrying out a social impact study. He further said that there were numerous bar licence applications pending before the government and, in connection with it, the Kerala High Court was informed that a licence cannot be granted to a hotel merely based on its star classification, as a social impact study also has to be carried out. “The High Court accepted the government stand and gave it time till November 30 to take a decision on the pending applications for bar licences,” the minister said. “We will not allow anyone to sabotage the policy of the government,” he said.
