The Tamil Nadu government has, on Saturday, moved its petition of appeal to the Supreme court to challenge the order issued by the Madras High court to shut down the TASMAC liquor shops that were opened on Thursday amid the rampant spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Through filing the appeal to have an uninterrupted operation of the TASMAC shops, the state government has, for yet another time, exposed that it depends on the revenue from the sale of liquor, which is one of the major revenue channels of the state. The liquor shops across the state were closed in the wake of the lockdown imposed to fight the spread of the pandemic. 

However, earlier this week, the state government announced that the TASMAC outlets across the state apart from Chennai would resume the operations on May 7, after remaining closed for over six weeks. The move to re-commence the operations of the liquor shops was strongly condemned by the opposition parties and the Public Interest Litigation was moved to the Madras High court.

The Madras High Court has permitted the government to shutter up the shops with certain restrictions - most importantly the court has directed the tipplers to adhere to the social distancing norms while buying liquor. However, on the first day of resumption, TASMAC said that it has sold 20 lakh liters of alcohol worth Rs 170 crore as the liquor lovers queued up before the shops by taking a break from the social distancing norms. 

On Friday, the TASMAC has recorded the revenue of Rs 125 crore as the state government has banked Rs 295 crore in the sale of alcohol for the first two days. Makkal Needhi Maiam party has moved to the Madras High Court on Friday by stating that the social distancing norms are not being followed in the liquor shops. After hearing the plea, the Madras High Court has issued a fresh order and directed the government to close all the TASMAC shops across the state.

The fresh order took to effect on Saturday and the High court has instructed the state to sell liquor online. While the judgment of closing the shops had been welcomed by people across the state, the government has taken a different stance and has now made an appeal to the Supreme Court against the order issued by the Madras High Court. 

In its petition, the government has claimed that the decision to resume the TASMAC operations is a state policy decision and the court can't interfere in such decisions. It has sought the directive from the apex court to open the TASMAC again despite the criticisms, protests, and rampant spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Also read: 

Revenue over welfare: How much TN earned through TASMAC outlets on the first day? 

'Close the TASMAC outlets' - Madras HC issues fresh order! Here's the update!