a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed by members of the Kerala Prohibition Council before Kerela High court seeking a direction to regulate the sale of liquor in the State of Kerala, by adopting three ways of bringing down the sale. They are Limiting the number of points of sale of liquor, limiting the time of sale of liquor and limiting the quantity of liquor that may be sold to a person per day by adopting electronic means.
The bench Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Shaji P. Chaly considered the questions raised by the petitioners and mention that the action of the state government, in opening more liquor shops/bars/parlours etc., cannot be said to be violative of Constitution of India or in total defiance of the statutory provisions.
The Court stated that “Merely because, more number of shops / bars / parlours etc. are opened, it cannot be said that the fundamental rights of the women and children are affected. While considering the scope of interference by Courts in economic matters, public interest cannot be circumscribed only to the rights of women and children. Decision of the Government in opening more liquor shops, bars/parlours, cannot be said to be violative of Constitution of India or the statutory provisions. Decision does not suffer from the vice of irrationality.”
Case name: KHADEEJA NARGEES vs. STATE of KERALA
Case no.: W.P(C).9630/2020
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