Supreme Court Order on Bars Near Highways: 6,018 Bars Turned Dry in Karnataka Last Night

Team Udayavani, Jul 1, 2017, 10:47 AM IST

Bengaluru: As many as 6, 018 bars have been shutdown from June 30 midnight in Karnataka after an order by the Supreme Court to shut all bars, pubs and other establishments sell or serve liquor within a distance of 500 meters from national, state highways in the country. The apex court order came last year following steep rise in road accident caused by drunken driving in recent years.

Karnataka state excise department has already served notice to all bar owners to relocate their bars to places 500 meter away from the national and state highways in Karnataka. The excise department has also decided not to renew the permits of bars those who fail to relocate their bars from the highways. 

Meanwhile, Karnataka state government, earlier filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review on its previous order on bars located near highways. The court is expected to hear the appeal in the second week of July 2017. The sate government has also requested the union government to denotify national and state highways in Karnataka as local roads to avoid closure of bars. However, the centre hasn’t responded to the request made by the state. As of now, Karnataka state has 854 kilometer long national highway and as many as 1500 bars have been shutdown last night.

As many as 3000 bars near state highways in urban areas of the state have relived from their closure after Karnataka government converted state high ways as local roads releasing an order. However, in rural areas all bars which fall under panchayat zone should be shutdown as per the Apex Court order.