Kerala has halted the issue of new bar licences until the United Democratic Front government announces its liquor policy, while Excise Minister M Liju said the power given to deputy commissioners to grant such licences will be withdrawn.
Liju made the announcement while speaking to reporters in Kayamkulam on Saturday. He said applications for bar licences had been received during the present UDF government’s tenure, but the government had decided that no licence should be granted before its new liquor policy was finalised.
The minister’s statement also places the administrative authority used to approve licences under review. According to Liju, the power to grant bar licences was given to excise deputy commissioners by the previous Left Democratic Front government. More than 500 bars received licences during that government’s tenure on the basis of the delegated authority, he said.
Liju alleged that officials had violated a government directive requiring the government to be informed when decisions related to policy matters were taken. The minister said the government would examine whether other interests were involved in the granting of licences and whether officials continued to act under the influence of the previous government’s period.
The government has suspended the officials concerned as part of an investigation. Liju said the suspension was not intended as a punitive action, but was meant to facilitate a detailed inquiry into the circumstances in which the licences were granted.
The investigation will examine whether the officials acted because they misunderstood the applicable laws and rules or whether there had been deliberate interventions, the minister said. The inquiry is therefore focused not only on the validity of individual licensing decisions but also on how delegated administrative powers were exercised.
Liju said the excise commissioner’s report submitted to the government was preliminary. He added that the government had examined the report before deciding to review the licensing process and withdraw the deputy commissioners’ authority.
The immediate administrative effect is that pending applications cannot result in new bar licences until the UDF government announces its liquor policy. The minister did not specify when the policy would be released or what future licensing framework would replace the current arrangement.
The dispute highlights the importance of clearly defining the boundaries between delegated official powers and elected-government policy decisions in the regulation of commercial establishments. For applicants and existing businesses, the next formal milestone will be the announcement of the government’s liquor policy and the subsequent decision on how bar-licence applications will be processed.
