Indian supreme court bans all liquor shops on highways

India's Supreme Court Thursday imposed a ban on all liquor shops on all state and national highways across the country, in a landmark order aimed at curbing the increasing number of road accidents.

A bench, headed by India's Chief Justice T.S. Thakur, said that no liquor shops will be allowed on any national highway or state highway and the licences of existing outlets should not be renewed. However, the ban will come into effect only from April 1 next year, the court said.

The apex court also said that new liquor shops must be at least 500 metres away from any state highway or national highway, adding that all liquor banners and advertisements on highways should be removed immediately.

The order came nearly a week after the top court had indicated that it could crack down on liquor shops on national and state highways across the country, besides removal of signages that indicate their location, which cause distration to commuters causing accidents.

The court's order came in the wake of a number of petitions challenging various High Court judgments which held that liquor shops be located at a distance from state highways so that they are neither visible nor accessible to the commuters.

India records one of the world's highest road accidents, with over 130,000 people dying each other, according to statistics. Most of the mishaps are due to poor road conditions, drunk driving and overspeeding. Endit