LexTHE KERALA BAR HOTELS ASSOCIATION &ANR. versus STATE OF KERALA & ORS.
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[2015) 11 S.C.R. 256 A THE KERALA BAR HOTELS ASSOCIATION &ANR. B v. STATE OF KERALA& ORS. (Civil Appeal No. 4157 of2015) DECEMBER 29, 2015. [VIKRAMAJIT SEN AND SHIVA KIRTI SINGH, JJ.] Constitution of India, 1950: C Art.14 - Exclusion of Five star hotels in the State of Kera/a from ban to serve alcohol in their bars - Constitutional validity of - Held: Banning public consumption of alcohol is a positive step toward bringing down the consumption of alcohol- There is no illegality or irrationality with the intention D of the State to clamp down on public consumption of alcohol - The impugned policy, therefore, cannot be written off as arbitrary or procedurally unsound - Foreign Liquor Rules Abkari Act, 1077 - ss. 10 and 24 to 29. E Art.47- Duty of State to improve public health- Ban on liquor- Held: Art.47 places responsibility on every State Government to at least contain if not curtail consumption of alcohol - Impugned policy permitting only Five star hotels in the State of Kera/a to serve alcohol in their bars i.e. in F public, therefore, is to be encouraged and not to be struck down or discouraged by the courts. Administrative law: Judicial review- Intervention with State policy-Held: G Courts must be loathe to venture into an evaluation of State policy - It must be given a reasonable time to pan out. Dismissing the appeals, the Court HELD: 1. The State's policy to achieve a liquor- H free Kerala has three constituents. The first is regarding 256 THE KERALA BAR HOTELS ASSOCIATION v. STATE OF 257 KERALA manufacture. Manufacture is no longer in private hands, A a_nd no licenses have been given since 1999. There is only one Government distillery in the State, thus giving the State the necessary control. Secondly, wholesale and retail supply has been under the control of the State since 1984. The Government has taken steps to curb B consumption by reducing the number of FL-1 shops by over 10 per cent, from 384 to 332, between 2014 and 2015. The third element is regarding consumption which is in alarming proportion in Kerala especially when compared to other States. [Para 15] [283-8-D] C 2. It is trite law thatArticle 14 allows for reasonable classifications, where the classification fulfills the dual criteria of being based on a reasonable differentia which has a nexus with the object sought to be achieved. A D ·right under Article 19(1 )(g) to trade in liquor does exist provided the State permits any person to undertake this business. It is further qualified by Article 19(6) and Article 47. Article 47 of the Constitution places a responsibility on every.State Government to at least contain if not E curtail consumption of alcohol. The impugned Policy, therefore, is to be encouraged and is certainly not to be struck down or discouraged by the Courts. How this policy is to be implemented, modified, adapted or F restructured is the province of the State Governmentand not of the Judiciary. The consumption of tobacco as well as liquor is now undeniably deleterious to the health of humankind. Advertising either of these intoxicants has been banned in most parts of the world, the avowed G purpose being to insulate persons who may not have partaken of this habit from being seduced to start. Banning pubic consumption of either of these inebriates cannot be constrained as not being connected in any manner with the effort to control consumption of H 258 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2015] 11 S.C.R. A tobacco, or with alcohol. Vulnerable persons, either because of age or proclivity towards intoxication or as a feature of peer pressure, more often than not, succumb to this temptation. Banning public consumption of alcohol, therefore, cannot but be seen as a positive step B towards bringing down the consumption of alcohol, or as preparatory to prohibition. [Paras 17, 24, 25] (284-G- H; 291-A-B, G-H; 292-A-C] 3. To meet the tests of Article 14, i.e. the right to C equality, there has to be intelligible differentia in the classification or the categorisation that has been carved out either by the Legislation or by the State policy has to be discernable. So far as the State of Kerala is concerned, steady progression in this regard is D perceptible inasmuch as it had started by placing a ban on the consumption of alcohol firstly on un-starred hotels, followed by Two Star hotels, which re-:eived the unqualified imprimatur of this Court in B.Six Hotels. En
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