New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Thursday a petition of Arrive Safe Society challenging the decision of the Chandigarh administration to denotify state highways and renaming them as major district roads to circumvent the order banning liquor shops and rastaurants/hotels serving liquor on state highways within 500 metres.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul agreed for the hearing on the mention from the petitioner who was responsible for bringing the ban of liquor shops on national and state highways.
The petitioner said the notification declaring state highways as major district roads was intended to hoodwink the apex court orders dated December 15, 20016 and March 31 and a colourable exercise of power. It said all the six roads connecting Chandigarh to other towns which were declared as state highways had now been declared as major roads just to dodge the ban. It sought quashing of the notifications and an interim stay of its operation so that the judgment on ban could be implemented without any impediment.
In December, 2016 the SC directed closure of liquor shops within 500 metres of highways.
