State to File Fresh Affidavit in Kerala High Court on Advocates Licensing: Excise Minister

Kollam

The state government will file a fresh supplementary affidavit in the High Court to grant bar licenses to hotels whose applications for star classification are pending with the Union Tourism Ministry, Excise Minister M Liju said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Liju said a new affidavit would be submitted in view of new information received from the Union Ministry of Tourism on the status of star rating applications.

He said bar licenses are normally given to hotels with a classification of three to five stars under the existing policy.

However, the previous government had decided to consider applications for bar licenses from hotels whose applications for star classification were under consideration by the Union Ministry of Tourism.

A suit challenging the decision was subsequently filed in the Kerala High Court, he said.

Mr. Liju said that after the new government assumed office, it found that the details of applications rejected by the Union Ministry of Tourism were not available.

“The state excise and taxation department has written to the Union Ministry of Tourism seeking details of how many applications have been processed and how many have been rejected. As the information was not available, the government first filed an affidavit explaining the stand taken by the previous government,” he said.

The minister said the center has since responded and provided details of the number of rejected applications and those still under consideration.

However, the state government has sought further clarification on the details.

He also said that the Union Ministry of Tourism has now filed a fresh affidavit in the High Court in connection with the case.

Mr Liju said he recently attended a meeting with tax and excise department officials and the public prosecutor handling the case to discuss the new development.

“The government wants to proceed transparently and protect the existing rules, laws and policies. We have also obtained the opinions of the public prosecutor and the excise and tax unions,” he said.

Mr Liju said the additional affidavit would contain relevant legal aspects and it would not be appropriate for him to release its contents before it is presented to the High Court.

Meanwhile, sources in the Excise Department said the Union Ministry of Tourism has informed the government that applications for star rating of 32 hotels in Kerala have been rejected.

Published – November 13, 2026 0:05 AM IST