Allahabad HC: 5 Year Old Shuts Down Liquor Shop

The Allahabad High Court banned the renewal of a liquor shop that has been in operation for 30 years near the MR Jaipuria School in Azad Nagar, Kanpur.

The Facts of the Case

Artharv, a five-year-old student, had approached the high court and sought relief through a public interest lawsuit filed by his father, seeking the removal of a liquor shop that was near his school.

The petition contended that the shop in question was affecting the daily lives of his fellow schoolmates and residents nearby. This petition was filed by the petitioner’s advocate, who argued that the liquor license that was renewed after the school was established was in fact illegal, and the petition also said that the said shop had become an infamous spot where ‘anti-social” elements of society would frequently gather.

The petitioner apparently informed his father about the situation when it “became unbearable.”.

Prior to the PIL, the petitioner’s father had already filed a complaint about the matter with the Integrated Grievance Redressal Method (IGRS site), which is an integrated system for complaint handling in Uttar Pradesh. The excise department then responded that the shop was around 20 to 30 meters from the school grounds. The statement further stated that the shop has been open for the previous 30 years, whereas the school was founded in 2019.

According to a Supreme Court ruling cited by the Lucknow bench, “no shop should be allowed to run within a radius of 100 meters from a place of worship, school, hospital, factory, or the entrance of a bazaar or a residential colony.”

Court’s Ruling

The bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Vikas presided over this matter and pronounced a judgment that banned the renewal of the liquor shop that is in close proximity to the school. Moreover, the court had directed the state government’s counsel to inquire with the authorities as to why the liquor shop’s license in Kanpur Nagar was renewed despite the fact that a school had opened nearby.