In a move that will water down the new liquor policy of the YSR Congress party government headed by Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday imposed a six-month stay on the suspension of bar licenses in the state.
Following the decision of the Jagan government to bring down the number of bars by 40 per cent, the excise department issued a notification cancelling the licences of all existing bars last month, but allowed them to continue till December 31.
The owners of the bars approached the High Court on the revocation of licenses for the next six months. The High Court questioned the government why it had to cancel the licenses before they could expire.
They alleged that the government has abruptly cancelled all bar licenses, even though some bar licenses expire in mid-2020.
The High Court directed that the government file an affidavit by December 7 and asked the bar owners to submit their counter by December 16. The Advocate General told the government to postpone the issue of fresh licenses till January 7.
The case has been postponed to December 23.
