STATE OF KERALA Vs. SAHADEVAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The State is the appellant in this Writ Appeal. The appeal is directed against the judgment in O. P. No. 13827 of 1999 dated 12.8.1999 by which the learned single Judge set aside Ext. P5 order and directed the Government to reconsider the matter treating the respondent's restaurant as approved, which, according to the learned Judge, will come within the category of classified restaurant.

(2.) The first respondent herein filed the Original Petition seeking to quash Ext. P5 order and to declare that the intention of the legislature in amending R.13 sub clause (3) of the Foreign Liquor Rules as per S. R. O. No. 218/97 published in Kerala Gazette Extraordinary No. 389 dated 31.3.1997 is to include 'approved restaurant' as approved restaurant is eligible to get Bar licence and insertion of the word 'classified restaurant' can only be a mistake.

(3.) The first respondent started a restaurant under the name and style 'Govardhana Restaurant' at Malampuzha in Palghat District with the prime intention of catering the needs of tourists, as Malampuzha is one of the important tourists centres in Kerala. With this object in view, he has made available all the required facilities for the restaurant. He made an application before the Commissioner of Excise, requesting to issue a Bar licence to his restaurant as the customers in the restaurant are mostly people coming from outside Kerala and from foreign countries. The application is marked as Ext. P1 in the Original Petition. On the basis of Ext. P1, the Commissioner of Excise made enquiries and submitted a report to the Government stating that the restaurant is having facilities to cater the needs of tourists coming from different parts of India and foreign countries, that such a restaurant is necessary for the development of tourism and that it is necessary to start a Bar, which is necessary to cater the needs of tourists. It is also the case of the first respondent that the restaurant satisfied all the guidelines formulated by the Government of India for promoting tourism. The guidelines provides for approving restaurants if such restaurants are having the standards prescribed under the guidelines. As per the Scheme, an application has to be made before the Regional Director if a particular restaurant wishes to get approval. The application so made will be enquired into through the machinery set up for that purpose. A classification committee is also formed in several regions to conduct necessary inspection, consisting of the representatives of the Government, such as the Director of Tourism, the Principal, Catering Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, representative of Hotel & Restaurant Association of the region concerned, representative of travel agencies, etc., and with the Regional Director as Chairman. According to the first respondent, there are only two restaurants in Kerala approved by the Regional Director, viz., Govardhana Restaurant, of which the first respondent is the Managing Director, and Pandal Restaurant, Ernakulam. Copy of the approval order issued by the Chairman, HRACC (SOUTH) and Regional Director, Regional Tourist Office, Chennai, is produced and marked as Ext. P2. Counsel for the first respondent submitted that in fact the first respondent submitted a copy of Ext. P2 along with his application, Ext. P1. It appears that the Commissioner of Excise had also sought a clarification in the matter from the Regional Director, Regional Tourist Office Chennai, who, in turn, sent a reply dated 31.12.1998 stating that star classifications are issued only for hotels and not for restaurants as per the guidelines formulated by the Government of India and as such, the question does not arise for any restaurant to be classified within the existing guidelines of the Government of India. It is further stated that approved restaurants recommended by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India may be treated as restaurant recommended for the tourists. The said communication is marked as Ext. P3 and the guidelines issued by the Government of India is marked as Ext. P4 in the Original Petition. However the first respondent received an order dated 2.6.1999 from the State of Kerala stating that since Govardhana Restaurant is not a 'classified restaurant', but only an 'approved restaurant', bar licence cannot be issued to the restaurant as per the existing rules and hence the application was rejected. The first respondent, thereupon, filed the Writ Petition before this Court stating that the only objection raised in Ext. P5 is that Govardhana Restaurant is not a classified restaurant, but only an approved restaurant and that Ext. P3 is a complete answer to the aforesaid objection, since there cannot be any classified restaurant as per the guidelines formulated either by the Government of India or the Government of Kerala and that the effect of R.13(3) is to provide such facility to approved restaurants.