Nagpur: The State Excise Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday announced in Assembly that Government will follow the Supreme Court order in letter and spirit. Starting today (April 1), sale of liquor will not be allowed on highways in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision to shut down liquor vends along the highways. The top court on Friday also made it clear that hotels, pubs and restaurants in the vicinity that serve alcohol, too, would have to take it off the menu to keep the roads safe. The minister further made it clear that those wine shop license holders who shift their shops elsewhere will not be charged transfer fees.

The decision of the apex court will affect 15,699 licensed liquor outlets out of 25,513 in Maharashtra. 2594 CL-3 licenses out of 4272 will get cancelled due to the Supreme Court order. Similarly, 831 FL-2 licenses out of 1715, 9097 FL-3 licenses out of 13,650, 27 FL-4 licenses out of 126 licenses, 3138 FLB R-2 licenses out of 5649 and 12 E-Bar licenses out of 101 licences will be cancelled.

The ruling will affect hundreds of pubs, five star hotels and other watering holes within 500 metres from the National Highways that will have to either go dry, or shut shop.