The Kerala government has cancelled the licence granted for a third bar at Cochin International Airport, saying the approval violated the state’s liquor policy and was issued despite the government’s objections.
Excise Minister M Liju said the cancelled order had been issued by former excise commissioner Seeram Sambasiva Rao in favour of Travel Food Services Ltd. The licence was an FL-VII licence, a category intended for airport lounges, and was meant to support the operation of additional bars at the domestic lounge of the airport.
According to the minister, the government had already communicated its objections when the proposal came up for consideration. An official letter issued by the additional chief secretary conveyed the government’s position, but Rao approved the licence without the government’s knowledge, Liju said.
The cancellation follows a government circular directing that no fresh bar licences be granted until the United Democratic Front government announces its liquor policy. The minister said the former excise commissioner’s decision was therefore inconsistent with both the government’s policy position and the circular in force at the time.
The government has also sought legal advice on two other bar licences granted at the airport. The status of those licences remains under examination, and the minister said the government would take a decision after receiving the legal opinion.
The dispute has emerged alongside allegations of irregularities in the grant of foreign liquor retail licences to three beer parlours—two in Ernakulam and one in Kottayam—by excise officers. The minister had taken a position against the officers involved in those decisions. The wider controversy led to Rao’s removal from the post of excise commissioner.
The airport licence issue places the excise department’s licensing process under scrutiny, particularly the relationship between administrative approvals and the state government’s declared liquor policy. The licence granted to Travel Food Services was based on the company’s application and concerned an additional bar facility within the airport’s domestic lounge.
Liju said the government’s new liquor policy would be announced within the stipulated timeframe. That policy announcement, along with the legal advice on the two other airport licences, is expected to determine the next official steps in the matter.
