The Congress-led Kerala government Friday received two severe blows within hours in its drive to shut bars in the state.

First, a Kerala High Court division bench stayed an order of its single bench which ruled Thursday that only 4-star, 5-star and heritage hotels could operate bar licences in the state. Later, the head of the state’s association of bar owners alleged that the state Finance Minister had accepted a bribe of Rs 1 crore from its representatives to facilitate the renewal of licences of 418 bar across all categories.

It is the second charge that could put Chief Minister Minister Oommen Chandy in a tight spot. For, Finance Minister K M Mani heads the Kerala Congress (M), a regional Christian-dominated party that is a key ally propping up the government in power.

In a late night press conference, the bar owners’ association representative Biju Ramesh told TV channels that Mani had sought Rs 5 crore for facilitating the renewal of the licences of the 418 hotel bars that had been identified by excise officials as “sub-standard” and closed since April.

Mani later accepted Rs 1 crore which was delivered at his residence in Kottayam’s Pala, Ramesh alleged. “I am ready to undergo any lie detection test in this regard. The minister had demanded Rs 5 crore, but we have given him Rs 1 crore. I am ready to give evidence to any investigating agency in this regard,’’ said Ramesh.

Minutes later, the political fallout of that allegation started playing out with P C George, a leader and spokesperson of KC (M), accused Chandy of instigating the bar owners against Mani. “Why is Mani being singled out in this issue?’’ asked George. BJP state president V Muraleedharan demanded that Mani should be sacked from the Cabinet.

Ramesh, meanwhile, claimed that he would reveal tomorrow the names of the association members who had handed over the money to the minister.

Earlier, the High Court division bench ordered status quo to be maintained in the case for the next one month. Accordingly, the division bench allowed functioning of 250-odd three-star bar hotels, which the government wanted to close down from Friday.

The directive was in response to a writ petition filed by the hotel bar owners in the division bench of Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and Babu Mathew Joseph.

The division bench found that there was discrimination in the government policy, which facilitated drinking for the “elite class” only.

The court also expressed doubts about the intention of the government in enforcing prohibition when state beverages corporation outlets were still open. The corporation has been handling 80 per cent of the liquor distribution in the state. The court said it would consider the petition again, on November 18.

The ruling drew mixed reactions from the political class with Congress state president V M Sudheeran – the man behind the prohibition move – saying that the verdict did not reflect the sentiments of the people.

However, opposition leader and CPM veteran V S Achuthanandan said the ruling only confirmed that the liquor policy of the government stemmed from a dispute between Sudheeran and Chandy, as had been widely reported.

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