A clampdown on liquor outlets appears solely unconnected with worsening situations of city roads. However because of a classic case of judicial overreach and a scramble for ways around that disruptive verdict, the first will lead to the second in India.

It started with a national government policy urging states to curb the mushrooming of liquor outlets alongside highways. Too many bus and truck drivers had been stopping for a drink and continuing to kill themselves or others in accidents. India’s highways reduce through the heart of towns, massive and small, and sometimes have restaurants and even big malls located right at their kerb. These establishments have little connection with highway liquor outlets catering completely to drivers. Recognising this, the national government carved out an exception in its policy: “National Highway or State Highway shall not include such elements of the National Highway or State Highway as are located within the limits of Municipal Corporation, City or City Municipal Council or such different authority having a population of twenty thousand or more”.