PUNE: Most tipplers would be able to hit their favourite joints again.The state excise department would issue district-level guidelines next week for the renewal of liquor licences of bars, permit rooms and liquor vends within municipal limits in Maharashtra , Valsa Nair Singh, the principal secretary of the excise department, told TOI on Thursday. Nair said the excise department was taking legal opinion on the Supreme Court SC ) order and if denotification was still required."Accordingly, guidelines will be issued next week to renew licences wherever possible," said Nair.The excise department decision follows the uploading of the Supreme Court's July 11 order - okaying liquor sale on roads passing through city areas - on the apex court's official website on Wednesday evening.Another state excise official said, "Denotification of highways passing through municipal limits would not be required now according to the latest SC order. We will, therefore, issue district-level guidelines in the coming week for the renewal of liquor licences of 75% bars, permit rooms and liquor vends in the state shut because of the highway liquor ban. The remaining 25% may not get any relief as they are located on inter-city highways," he said.Close to 15,000 permit rooms, bars and liquor vends in Maharashtra had their licences sealed from April this year due to the highway liquor ban. Of them, close to 9,000 establishments are expected to get relief soon.Sources in the liquor industry said 75% of bars, permit rooms and liquor vends will be able to renew their licences in Pune district too. Close to 1,500 bars, permit rooms and liquor vends had had their liquor licences suspended in April owing to the ban.Dilip Datwani, president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, "The SC order was a much-needed clarification as millions of jobs and the survival of the nation's tourism industry was at stake." The order will bring relief to almost 70% of the affected hotels. The clarifications cited in the order will allow a majority of the related establishments to go back to business as usual and give back employment to those affected, Datwani said.Pradeep Shetty, honorary secretary and chairman, legal matters sub-committee, HRAWI, said, "The SC's order dated December 15, 2016 to ban liquor vends along highways was to deal with the menace of drunk driving resulting in accidents. What was construed as a blanket ban across all highways came with a heavy price for the industry and its large workforce in the cities."The SC's recent clarification has both acknowledged the legitimacy of de-notification of state highways and removed any ambiguity regarding lifting the ban within city limits," Shetty said.