Kerala High Court removes the bar on women working in toddy shops

29 October 2026

The Kerala High Court has held that Rule 7(37) of the Kerala Abkari Shops Disposal Rules, 2002 is unconstitutional. That rule said no woman could be employed in any capacity in a toddy shop. Justice P. Gopinath decided the case of a woman from Thrissur district whose husband had worked in a toddy shop; she was refused a compassionate appointment there because of the rule. The judge held the bar was neither justified in principle nor proportionate, and that it went against Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. He followed the Supreme Court's decision in Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India, which said the State must make a workplace safe rather than shut women out of it. The Court directed that her claim be looked at without applying the rule, and said no licence condition resting on the rule can stand. The ruling is reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 606.