‘Bypasses have not been completed/commissioned for any of these stretches’

In a setback to liquor outlets situated within 500 metres from national highways (NHs) that pass through Bengaluru and other cities in the State, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has said that it is “not in a position to consider the State government’s proposal for denotification of these NHs at this stage” as the apex court has neither reviewed or modified its verdict of banning liquor shops within 500 metres from the outer edge of NHs or State highways or service roads along the highways.

Also, the Ministry said that it has “not been found feasible” for considering the State’s proposal to denotify 147 isolated NH stretches of around 609.65-km length as “bypasses have not been completed/commissioned for any of these stretches”.

The Ministry’s communication, dated August 14, was submitted before the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday during the hearing of a batch of petitions filed by the owners of liquor joints situated in Bengaluru city’s upmarket localities that come under the 500 metre zone from NHs. The petitioners are seeking renewal of their excise licences, claiming that roads such as M.G. Road can no more be classified as NHs.

Justice Vineet Kothari, before whom the petitions came up for hearing, adjourned further hearing till Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry’s communication referred specific portions of the Supreme Court’s December 2016 verdict, in which the apex court had observed that “... it would be necessary to direct that no exception can be carved out for the grant of liquor licences in respect of those stretches of the national or State highways which pass through the limits of any municipal corporations, city, town or local authority ...”

The Ministry also clarified that the State’s proposal to denotify 17.25-km length of service roads on either side of elevated NHs developed under build-operate-transfer (BOT) project cannot be favourably considered as service roads are part of NHs. The sections of NHs within Bengaluru city limits, built under BOT, also cannot be transferred to the State as the BOT concession periods have not been completed, the Ministry has said.

On the State’s contention that the NH 207 is acting as a “bypass” to NH 4 and NH 7 and hence their stretches passing through Bengaluru city can be denotified, the Ministry said that such a contention “does not appear to be correct” as any traffic, required to move from NH 4 or NH 7 to other NHs such as 209 and 275 cannot use NH 207 and has to essentially commute through Bengaluru city.