Aishwarya Restobar of North Paravur, the now legendary bar from Kerala which has become a global sensation for constructing a long, serpentine entrance to its doors to bypass the Supreme Court’s recent order banning bars near highways, may not get the required permit from the excise department.
According to media reports, excise officers have said that as per the Supreme Court rule, the distance between the periphery of the highway and shortest way to the bar will be measured as the distance between the bar and the highway, and not the length of the road.
The beer and wine parlour had constructed the serpentine road to circumvent the SC order which decreed that all liquor shops and bars within 500 metres of national and state highways should be shut down. The SC was hearing a public interest litigation filed by NGO Arrive Safe.
As per The Times of India, the excise department has not given the permit to the Restobar even after the owners approached the department for license, pointing out that the distance of the private road from the highway will not be considered.
“The distance is calculated from the outer periphery of the road to the entrance through the shortest pathway. The pathway should be a public pathway and not a private one,” deputy excise commissioner Narayanan Kutty told ToI.
Aishwarya Restobar had built a separate 250 metre path to its building. The bar is situated on NH 17 in Ernakulam district.
Earlier the manager of the bar told The News Minute that it cost them Rs. 2 lakh to do this. Not only this Restobar, but popular malls like Cyber Hub and Ambience Mall in Delhi NCR have also changed the entrance to their properties. Ambience Mall has closed the entrance to the Leela Ambience Hotel and visitors have to drive around the residential complex before entering the hotel, media reports stated earlier.