High Court's Liquor Ban on Highways Put on Hold: Supreme Court Stays Rajasthan Order
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The Supreme Court has temporarily halted the implementation of a Rajasthan High Court order that required the removal of all liquor shops within 500 meters of national and state highways across the state. The order, issued on November 24, 2025, aimed to curb rising road fatalities and drunken driving. However, the Supreme Court bench, consisting of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, acknowledged the gravity of the issue but expressed concerns about the sweeping directions. They noted that the order warranted closer scrutiny, particularly in light of earlier Supreme Court rulings that had relaxed the original prohibition in certain circumstances. The court issued a notice in the matter and ordered that the effect of the Rajasthan High Court's directions shall remain stayed until further orders. The petition was filed by Ram Swaroop Yadav, who argued that the high court had passed the directions without hearing affected parties and without accounting for binding Supreme Court precedents. The Rajasthan government supported the plea for suspending the high court's order, citing practical difficulties in its implementation. The court made it clear that it was not discounting the seriousness of the issue, emphasizing the need for a balanced policy response to highway accidents and deaths linked to alcohol consumption. The Rajasthan High Court's order had come down heavily on the state government for the alarming rise in fatal road accidents and for turning highways into 'liquor-friendly corridors.' It had directed the state to remove or relocate 1,102 liquor outlets situated within 500 meters of national and state highways within two months. However, the Supreme Court's intervention brings the focus back to its own evolving jurisprudence on liquor vends along highways. In its 2016 ruling, the court had imposed a blanket 500-meter prohibition, which was later relaxed through a series of orders allowing states to permit licensed establishments within municipal areas and certain local bodies.
