State Multiplying Liquor Outlets Under Guise Of Complying With Court Order: Congress Leader VM Sudheeran Before Kerala High Court

Congress leader and former Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly V.M. Sudheeran has filed a review petition before the Kerala High Court accusing the government of increasing the number of liquor outlets in the State in the name of compliance with the Court's orders in the ongoing contempt case. 

Justice Devan Ramachandran while directing the Registry to number the review petition, observed:

"This Court has not directed any agency to increase the number of outlets in the state. Like I said before, the policy they adopt does not matter to me, all I want is the results. The decision to expand liquor outlets in the State is the policy decision of the government. You should have ideally taken it before the State government if you had a grievance."

The review petition was filed through Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj alleging that the government is increasing the number of outlets under the guise of the intervention of the court in the contempt case.

Government Pleader S. Kannan appeared for the State and Senior Advocate Ranjith Thampan appeared for BEVCO in the matter today. 

These developments ensued in a contempt petition regarding the non-implementation of the Court's order to provide a dignified way to citizens to purchase liquor from BEVCO outlets. It also addressed the overcrowding in front of these stores. This order was passed four years ago.

This is the second contempt petition regarding the non-implementation of the Court's order in the matter. 

The bench has been effectively monitoring progress in the matter for the past several months and has brought about various changes to the manner in which liquor outlets function in the State. 

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