MADURAI: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court issued notice to the State and Central governments in a contempt petition filed by KK Ramesh of Madurai that directions given to Tasmac liquor shops made by the court earlier had not been implemented.

In public interest petitions filed by B Ramkumar Adityan and KK Ramesh, they said liquor consumption continues to rise year after year in the State and moreover youth in the age group of 21 years and below was consuming alcohol.

Citing these, the petitioners sought the government to reduce the functioning hours of Tasmac shops and limit it from 2 pm to 8 pm.

A division bench of Justice SS Sundar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy, after hearing the contempt petition, ordered both the Central and State government to respond and adjourned the case to two weeks.