Goa wonders how to explain law that permits 24 bottles

Ahead of review petition in SC against highway liquor ban, govt faces a poser in1972 notification allowing transport of beer, IMFL

WHILE THE Goa government is under pressure to file a review petition against the Supreme Court ban on liquor shops along state and national highways, officials are in a quandary over a 1972 excise notification.

The February 1972 notification, under the Goa, Daman and Diu Excise Duty Act, 1964, generously allows 24 bottles of beer, and 12 quart bottles of Indian made foreign liquor, to be transported anywhere in Goa, by any person, without a permit. Officials say this number could be the highest in the country.

Officials at the helm of shaping a review petition are now working on how to explain this legality, teamed with accident data of the state, to put forward their claim that in Goa, the idea of alcohol is different from the way the rest of the country sees it.

“It’s going to be very interesting... the words and the context we choose to explain and expose this legality in the review petition. But we are trying,” said a senior official.

The Supreme Court order, which bans liquor vends 500 metres from state and national highways, has hit Goa hard as the state is dependent on tourism as its primary industry. The court said, “The availability of liquor along the highways is an opportunity to consume. Easy access to liquor shops allows drivers of vehicles to partake in alcohol, in callous disregard [of] their own safety and the safety of others.”

An official said, “While the order does point out that the courts know a driver can always stock up, the entire judgment still rests on a chain of two crucial actions — temptation, followed by access — while he or she is driving. In Goa, the definitions change. A person can already stock such quantities of liquor without permit in his vehicle and travel anywhere in the state limits. The idea of ‘temptation’ in that context, and availability and access changes. In many instances, we have families here stocking liquor and visiting beaches or even going for festivities. That doesn’t mean everyone is a drunkard here. In Goa, alcohol is not prohibited or a taboo like in neighbouring states. It’s part of tradition.”

Goa is banking on another rule, “slightly contradicting”, to come to its rescue. “The same Act (Excise Act, 1964), under general provisions, also prohibits any licensed vendor to sell or deliver any liquor to drivers and conductors of motor buses, taxis and lorries, when on duty. We will definitely be telling the court that we already have a state rule on this,” said an official.

However, how to state this while also admitting that the Act allows 24 bottles of beer is another issue.

With Goa being a tourist state, senior bureaucrats admit that liquor industry has always got the maximum leeway while policies are shaped. Officials said the Supreme Court order is expected to cause a hit of Rs 40 crore in the next financial year, as far as just direct purchases are concerned. The losses caused through sales at hotels are yet to be tabulated.

Even as the state government looks into the legalities, a few liquor traders have employed their own lawyers. A bar owner representing the All Goa Bar and Restaurant association said, “We have also asked the lawyers to check if there is any document available of the treaty between Portuguese and India. We understand that the treaty had asked India to retain the licences given by the Portuguese government for businesses under them. Most of our licences are from the Portuguese period.”

The excise department has been conducting surveys to see which outlets fall within the 500-metre zone, and begun resurveys where licence holders have asked for repeat mapping.

“The department has done GPS mapping, which is point to point. We will have to look at a feasible way to map this,” says Dattaprasad Naik, president of the Goa Liquor Traders Association, adding that in many cases approachable roads are at a longer distance from the highways than the GPS mapping shows.

Several organisations in Goa have written to the department seeking exemption from the Supreme Court order, including the Army canteen and mess. Cruise liners are planning to change their mooring points to ensure that the distance between their anchor and the nearest road is above 500 metres. The four shops inside the Goa airport have cited “international customers taking a flight” as the reason to seek exemption.