The Kerala High Court on Wednesday sought an explanation from the state government on its failure to ensure compliance with Covid-19 protocols outside state-run liquor stores, citing reports of overcrowding at various places.
Examining photos and videos, and considering a petition seeking court action against the Excise Commissioner and Managing Director, Bevco, for not implementing the court order, the HC criticised the State for allowing heavy rush in front of liquor shops.
Justice Devan Ramachandran observed that only 20 people are allowed to attend weddings but outside liquor shops, around 500 stand in queues and no social distancing is followed. Crowd can also be seen in front of state-owned Bevco outlets that sell Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), he said. Excise Commissioner S Ananthakrishnan and Bevco MD Sparjan Kumar appeared before the court on a petition filed by Hindustan Paints Thrissur.
The court said the liquor is not a contraband material and “the dignity of the person coming to buy liquor should be maintained”.
“It is unbecoming of a civilised society to keep the consumers in the scorching sun. The present practice being followed by KSBC in barricading the outlet and making the customer stand outside and buy liquor must be stopped and an adequate waiting area must be provided for people coming to buy liquor inside the shop premises,” Justice Ramachandran said.
“Also, the free movement of the residents of the area, preventing nuisance by orderly parking vehicles are all matters to be taken note of and strict action must be taken by the Excise authorities,” he added.
The court made it clear that no crowd shall be allowed in front of the liquor outlets as the number of daily Covid cases are still high in the state. “Hundreds of people are queuing up without maintaining social distance. The serpentine queue will head to disease transmission”, the court said.
It said that there was a facility to control rush in front of the outlets when they were reopened after the first lockdown. But this time, no such system was introduced and the government failed to control the rush. The app, BevQ, which was introduced after the first lockdown was withdrawn after many complaints from users.
The court directed the excise commissioner and Bevco MD to file an affidavit with a detailed plan for crowd management in 10 days and will consider the case again on July 16. The Bevco MD and excise commissioner will appear before the court.
In a suo motu case taken up by the high court on Wednesday related to the crowd in front of liquor outlets, the bench headed by Chief Justice S Manikumar had said that crowding in public areas, more particularly in liquor shops, should not be allowed, while observing that health is more important than revenue. This case will be considered later. The high court intervened in this matter as huge crowd is seen in front of liquor shops, especially on Fridays.
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