Supreme Court to hear Puducherry government review plea against order to close wine shop within 150 meters of educational institute

The Supreme Court recently issued notice in a review petition filed by the Puducherry government against an apex court order that had, in effect, reiterated that no wine shop can be set up within 500 meters of educational institutes or a temple or a mosque..A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justice CT Ravikumar also tagged the matter along with a special leave petition against a similar ruling from the Madras High Court..In December 2016, the Supreme Court had issued a slew of directions regarding the permissible areas where liquor outlets in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry could be set up..In March 2017, the Supreme Court modified its earlier order regarding a ban on liquor shops on State and National Highways, albeit very slightly.A bench of (then) Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices DY Chandrachud (as he then was) and L Nageswara Rao (since retired) modified its earlier directions in the following respects:For towns with a population of less than 20,000, the earlier distance mentioned in the order prohibiting the sale of liquor within 500 meters of the State and National Highways stands modified to 220 meters.Sikkim and Meghalaya would be exempted from the ban owing to their natural geography.All licences to sell liquor along highways would effectively cease to exist from April 1, 2017. However, the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were allowed an extension of time till September 31, since their excise year begins on October 1.The bench had also noted that the earlier order could not be read down to only include “shops” selling liquor.In effect, the order was intended to cover any establishment selling liquor within the prohibited distance, whether bar, restaurant or shop..But on March 20 this year, a bench of Justices MR Shah and Ravikumar directed the closure of a wine shop in Puducherry since it was 150 meters away from an educational institute.This bench noted that the 2016 Supreme Court ruling called for such liquor outlets to be located at least 500 meters away from educational institutes, temples, and mosques..The March 20 verdict has now been challenged by the Puducherry government through a review petition.The petitioners have contended that the March 20 order was in the teeth of the Supreme Court's subsequent orders which had clarified that the distance rule in a municipal area would be determined by the State government.The Puducherry government had determined the distance to be 50 meters and given permission to the said liquor shop, it was pointed out..In the special leave petition, advocates PB Suresh, Vipin Nair, Arindam Ghosh, Karthik Jayashankar, Anshumaan Bahadur, and PB Sashaankh appeared for Alankar Wines Private Limited. Attorney General R Venkataramani and advocate Aravindh S appeared for the Union Territory of Puducherry..[Read Orders]