Will comply SC’s order to relocate liquor shops on highways: Odisha govt

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday said it would comply the order of Supreme Court to relocate the liquor shops on national and state highways.

Excise minister Damodar Rout said many liquor shops have already been removed from the road side of the highways.

“We will follow the apex court order. While many liquor shops have been relocated, the rest will be removed before the deadline,” he added.

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed that no liquor stores can operate within a distance of 500 meters of state and national highways in the country.

The court asked to dislocate the shops by April 2017. The court also ordered to remove the liquor advertisement hoardings from the highways.

The license of those NH side existing shops will not be renewed from April 1.