By no stretch of imagination can a statue of Mahatma Gandhi be called ‘a place of worship’, the High Court of Karnataka observed on Monday, turning down a Public Interest Litigation questioning the grant of licence to Tonique, a liquor boutique on MG Road.
Bengaluru-based Lawyer AV Amarnathan had filed the plea, saying the liquor vend is 30 metres from the Gandhi statue. Stating that Rule 3(3) of under Karnataka Excise Licences (General Conditions) Rules, 1967, prohibits liquor vends near places of worship & similar places, he had said the Gandhi statue falls in that category as citizens visit his statue every year to pay respects to the father of the nation.
Rejecting the petition, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka said even Gandhi wouldn't have reconciled to the thought of him being worshipped.
No material submitted to prove liquor vend within prohibited distance: High Court
Though the petitioner orally mentioned about rule 5 (2)(a) of the said rules of 1967 wherein the authority can reject a licence if there is a likelihood of peace, tranquility & morality getting breached, the bench noted that though the rules provide for that, he had not pleaded it in his plea.
The Court perused the report submitted by the local tahsildar, who undertook a spot inspection on July 23, following a July 9 order of the court. The inspection was carried out in the presence of the petitioner & representative of Tonique liquor vend. As per the tahsildar’s report, St Mark’s Cathedral is 144 metres from the vend & the deputy commissioner of police office 126.5 metres away — well beyond the 100-metre minimum distance prescribed for granting of licence.
The Court said the petitioner hasn't shown any material to indicate they are within the prohibited distance. The petitioner had sought withdrawal of the vend’s licence.
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