The second round of legal battle by a person from Perumbavoor against the government liquor policy has come unstuck with a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court reiterating the Supreme Court observations that consumption of liquor cannot be treated as a fundamental right.
Anoop from Perumbavoor has contended that he had made liquor of his diet. He has faced a dilemma; to drink or not to drink. He has railed at the policy which obstructed “his passion for the drinks,” his right to choose, to be let alone to privacy, and his right to life. He has contended that the laws prohibiting alcoholic drinks violated the fundamental rights guaranteed to a citizen. He approached the Division Bench as the single judge had dismissed his plea against the shutting down of bar hotels.
Dismissing his appeal, the Bench on Wednesday observed that a right, however entrenched, was never unrestrained, much less unregulated. As with all other rights, right to privacy — if right to take intoxicating drinks were one — was always subject to reasonable restrictions.
The Supreme Court had declared that consumption of intoxicating drink could not be treated as a fundamental right, the court observed. The court, however, observed that that the times were changing. “What is today morally reprehensible and socially unacceptable may not be so tomorrow. The appellant, may still have hope.”
Published - January 18, 2017 07:43 pm IST
