Mangala re-imposes ban on women buying liquor

• Also revokes amendment allowing them to work at liquor stores or places where alcohol is manufactured 
• Extended opening hours also rolled back

Bowing to the inevitable, Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera on the request of the Cabinet yesterday withdrew the two gazette notifications issued under the Excise Ordinance.

The two gazettes had earlier lifted the ban on women buying liquor and working at places where liquor was manufactured or sold in addition to relaxing the business hours of liquor establishments.

“Accordingly, the prohibition on selling liquor to women and employing women in places where liquor is manufactured or sold has been re-imposed under Excise Notification No. 4 of 2018 signed by the Minister Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement. 

The other gazette extraordinary containing the Excise Notification No. 3 of 2018 has reintroduced the previous business hours for liquor establishments. 

The Cabinet decision was made on Tuesday after President Maithripala Sirisena stormed out of the Cabinet meeting following an outburst against United National Party (UNP) MPs for criticising him. He had to be coaxed back by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several other ministers. 

After Cabinet resumed, during subsequent discussions most Cabinet ministers had demanded the decision be revoked despite Samaraweera attempting to stand his ground on the move that was widely seen as progressive. 

On Wednesday 11 women filled a Fundamental Rights Petition against the decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers to reverse the recent amendments to the excise ordinance, legally allowing women to buy alcohol from liquor retail outlets.

The women claimed that the decision by the Cabinet to reverse the changes have given “rise to a reasonable apprehension regarding an imminent infringement of the petitioners’ right to equality and equal protection of the law guaranteed to them” by Article 12 (1) of the Sri Lankan Constitution.

The petition highlighted that the move by the Government would be an infringement of their right to engage in an occupation of their choice guaranteed to them by the Constitution as the law will prohibit them from working at places of production and sale of liquor, depriving women of “an opportunity to engage in a lawful vocation”.

Article 12 of the 1978 Constitution prevents any person being discriminated “against on the grounds of race, religion, language, caste, sex, political opinion, place of birth or any one of such grounds.”

The petition was filed by lawyers Thamila Dinushi Perera, Thisya Weragoda and Sanjaya Marambe.