1. M/s. Siddi Enterprises, a CL-9 Excise licence holder and other petitioners also seeking their renewal of Excise licences from the Respondent-Excise Department of the State of Karnataka having their liquor vending shops at Brigade Road and M.G. Road, and other urban roads in the city of Bengaluru, which fall on NH-4 & NH-7, have filed these writ petitions seeking a direction to the Respondent-State to consider their applications for renewal of Excise licences, which the Respondent-State has refused to do, in view of the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in State of Tamil Nadu vs. K.Balu decided on 15.12.2016 as the shops falling within the restricted limits of 500 metres from the edge of the State Highways or National Highways.

2. The following interim orders were passed in the present matters after hearing both the parties on 27.07.2017 and 03.08.2017:-

Order dated 27.07.2017:-

“Learned counsel for the Union of India has filed a memo in the Court today along with certain documents including the latest communication dated 25.07.2017 issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Planning Zone) of the Government of India addressed to the Additional Chief Secretary to Government, Public Works, Ports & IWT Department, Bengaluru, raising certain requirements and directing certain information and the documents to be furnished by the State Government to the said Ministry for the purpose of considering the case for de-notifying different sections of NH-4 and NH 7 passing through the municipal and city limits of the city of Bengaluru.

Learned Additional Advocate General Mr. A.S. Ponnanna submits that the State has otherwise not received the said communication dated 25.07.2017, but a copy of the memo along with the said order has been supplied to him and, therefore, the State will take suitable action and steps to furnish the required information to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (Planning Zone), Delhi, expeditiously.

Learned counsel for the petitioners, on the other hand, are directed to furnish the copies of all the orders passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court with regard to consideration of these cases after the judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the case The State of Tamilnadu rep. by its Secretary, Home Prohibition & Excise Department and others vs. K. Balu and another in Civil Appeal Nos.12164-12166 of 2016 and allied matters decided on 15.12.2016.

List these matters again on 03.08.3017 at the request of learned counsels for the parties.

Order dated 03.08.2017:-

1. The learned Addl. Advocate General Mr. A.S. Ponnanna has submitted a memo in the Court today, along with the copy of the Communication dated 31.07.2017 sent by the Addl. Chief Secretary of Government of Karnataka to the Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi, giving requisite information and undertaking to the said Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that the stretches of NH-4 and NH-7, which are requested to be de-notified in view of the construction of bypass in the form of NH-207 and others, these stretches of the NH-4 & NH-7, passing through the Municipal limits like M.G. Road in Bengaluru and on which the present Excise licencees are seeking the renewal of their Excise licences may be denotified.

2. A copy of the said communication dated 31.07.2017 sent by the State Government to the Central Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, has been handed over to the learned Addl. Solicitor General appearing for Union of India, who has submitted before the Court that an expeditious consideration of the said representation of the State along with the information and Undertaking supplied by them will be undertaken by the said Ministry and they would submit their response before the Court as early as possible and he prays for a period of two weeks of time for the said purpose.

3. On the other hand