Road safety: SC bans sale of liquor on highways

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court has put a ban on the sale of liquor on national and state highways. The apex court has said that the existing licences of the alcohol distribution shops will lapse on April 1, 2017.Reacting to the news, stocks like United Spirits and United Breweries saw some selling pressure. Global Spirits also fell off the cliff after performing well in early morning trade. The clamp down comes on the back of many accidents on the highways. According to statistics, there are about 1.5 lakh fatalities per year in India. SC believes that one of the reasons for the accidents could be that liquor is so easily available on highways.Many NGOs had petitioned for this ban as a road safety measure. As per the judgement, there can be no shops within the 500 metre radius of the highways and the judgement is limited to alcohol stores. Watch video for more...