Division Bench asks how a 'DJ party' can be defined as the State appeals on FL-3 bar hours

13 November 2026

A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has taken up the State's appeal against a Single Bench ruling on bar hotel hours. The appeal, State of Kerala v Mahadevan and others, is numbered WA 2375 of 2026 and arises from WP(C) 17410 of 2026. An amendment to Rule 28(1) of the Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953, notified on 13 February 2026, allows FL-3 bar hotels rated five-star and above to work three hours beyond the usual closing time, that is until 3 a.m., on payment of an additional annual rental of Rs 5,00,000, and the State told the Court that 33 hotels were given such permission in March 2026. The Additional Advocate General argued that a bar licence covers liquor service and not DJ parties. Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji asked how the term 'DJ party' could be defined at all for the purpose of imposing penalties, and whether piped music would also be caught by it. The Bench suggested that strict regulation may work better than prohibition, and that organisers could be made personally liable. It recorded that the Single Bench's directions do not stop the police from enforcing law and order by all legally permissible means, day or night. The matter is listed for detailed hearing on 16 November.