Rajasthan: Highway liquor shops to stay open as SC grants interim relief

Jaipur, Jan 19 (LatestNewsX) Around 1,102 liquor shops located on national and state highways passing through municipal limits in Rajasthan will not be closed for now after the Supreme Court on Monday granted an interim stay on the Rajasthan High Court’s order directing their removal and relocation.

A Bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta passed the interim order while hearing special leave petitions (SLPs) filed by the state government and affected licence holders.

Appearing for the state, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Advocate General Shivamangal Sharma submitted that the Supreme Court, through a series of earlier judgments, had already granted relief from the 500-metre restriction on liquor vends located within municipal limits.

They argued that the High Court could not ignore or override the law laid down by the Supreme Court while issuing its directions.

The principal Bench of the Rajasthan High Court at Jodhpur, in its order dated November 24, 2025, had directed the state government to identify, remove and relocate all liquor shops situated within a 500-metre radius of national and state highways, irrespective of whether they fall within municipal corporation areas, local self-governing bodies, or statutory development authorities.

The High Court had further observed that the expansion of municipal limits could not be used as a ground to dilute the safety norms prescribed by the Supreme Court.

The implementation of the High Court’s order was estimated to cause a revenue loss of nearly Rs 2,100 crore to the state exchequer.

However, the High Court had maintained that public safety under Article 21 of the Constitution outweighed financial considerations, citing road accident statistics to justify its directions.

With the Supreme Court’s interim stay now in place, the operation of liquor shops along highways within municipal limits will continue until further orders.

arc/pgh