Thiruvananthapuram | Excise Minister M Liju on Saturday said three excise officials had been suspended for granting bar licences to three hotels in Ernakulam and Kottayam districts in violation of the government's stand that no licences would be granted until a new liquor policy was formulated.

In a Facebook post, the minister said the UDF government had decided not to grant licences to any new bars until a new liquor policy was formulated, taking into account the state's social environment and tourism sector.

However, two hotels in Ernakulam district and one in Kottayam district were granted bar licences by the respective Deputy Excise Commissioners in violation of the directive, he said.

The minister said he sought an urgent report from the Excise Commissioner after the matter came to his notice and subsequently suspended the officials who granted the licences.

Liju said the government would take strict action against officials who acted against its policy.

Explaining the background, the minister said the then Oommen Chandy-led UDF government restricted bar licences in 2014 to hotels with five-star or five-star deluxe classification. Before that, hotels with two-star or higher classification were eligible for such licences.

As a result, the number of operational bars in the state came down from 730 to 29 by the time the Oommen Chandy government completed its term in 2016, he said.

In 2017, the subsequent LDF government amended the rules to allow hotels with three-star and above classification to obtain bar licences, replacing the earlier five-star eligibility criterion.

Based on the amended provisions, 410 hotels were granted bar licences during the first LDF government's tenure and another 78 during its second term, taking the total to 488, the minister said.