Any plan to restrict sale of liquor in hotel bars and clubs located close to educational institutions? Madras High Court asks Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise

The Madras High Court has directed the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise to spell out whether any norms would be put in place for licensing bars inside hotels/clubs located near educational institutions in order to prevent incidents of underage students being offered liquor and ending up in fisticuffs in an inebriated mood.

Justice N. Ramesh issued the direction after expressing shock over a criminal case registered against a 19-year-old college student for having allegedly indulged in a brawl with fellow students when they were consuming liquor at a bar attached to an adjacent hotel reportedly run by the college management.

The judge suo motu impleaded the Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise as one of the respondents to an anticipatory bail petition filed by the college student and called for details regarding the licence issued to El Dorado bar at SRM Hotel in Potheri, near Chennai.

He also wanted the Commissioner to explain whether there were any rules, government orders, circulars or any other guidelines governing the grant and renewal of licence in Form F.L.3, and whether any of them prescribe a minimum distance from an educational institution, a students’ hostel or a place of worship.

The Commissioner was further directed to furnish to the court the distance between the bar and the nearest gate/ building/hostel of the educational institution measured along the path a pedestrian would ordinarily take, and whether the premises lies within a municipal area.

The officer was also ordered to state whether the proximity of the educational institution and the number of students studying there was taken into consideration before granting/renewing the FL3 licence to the bar in the hotel and what action would be taken in future.

Justice Ramesh also impleaded the SRM Institute of Science and Technology as another respondent to the petition and directed its Registrar to disclose whether the college management had any connection whatsoever with SRM Hotel and the steps taken by it to prevent students from consuming alcohol.

Taking note that three students who got injured due to a hit with a beer bottle on September 26, 2026 had been treated at SRM Hospital, the judge ordered that the petitioner should not be arrested until further orders provided he cooperates with the investigation and appears for inquiry whenever required.