India top court bans all liquor shops along highways

NEW DELHI - India's top court Thursday ordered the shutdown of all liquor shops along state and national highways, in a bid to reduce drunk driving in a country where road accidents kill 17 people every hour. The Supreme Court directed authorities to stop granting licenses to highway liquor shops with immediate effect and said all existing registrations would be cancelled by March 31, 2017, setting a deadline of April 1 for their closure. "(There should be) no liquor vends on national and state highways," Chief Justice T.S. Thakur said.

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt