Faridkot, April 28: Hunting for ways to circumvent Supreme Court’s order of banning the sale of liquor within 500 mt of national and state highways, liquor contractors in Faridkot have taken refuge on the banks of Rajasthan Feeder Canal by opening a liquor vend.
As about 4 km of Amritsar-Bathinda NH runs parallel to the canal and the land adjoining this road is the property of the Rajasthan government, the contractors have erected an unauthorised liquor vend on it putting up a flashy signboard beckoning all. These vend also provides the consumers a place to drink in an ahata (open air kitchens serving eatables) along Amritsar-Bathinda road.
While the Excise and Taxation Department feigned ignorance about the liquor vend operating in this belt, XEN Erinder Singh, Rajasthan Feeder Canal, said the land adjoining the canal is the property of Rajasthan government and using it for any other purpose without their permission was illegal.
“We will initiate legal action for the removal of the vend”, he said. Harman Sidhu, the man behind the booze ban in clubs and pubs along the highways, said it was not only a violation of SC ruling but it is also encroachment on the land of another state.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
