To prevent Kerala booze from sloshing across the border and disturbing Tamil Nadu's April 23 polls, the Kerala government — at the request of the Chief Electoral Officers — declared April 21-23 and May 4 (TN counting day) as dry days within 5 km of the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. On April 21, Justice S Manu of the Kerala High Court stayed the order, noting that Section 135C of the Representation of the People Act restricts liquor sales only in polling areas — and Kerala is not a polling area for Tamil Nadu's election.
Kerala's Additional Chief Secretary, acting on a request from the Chief Electoral Officers, decided that Kerala citizens should also have a dry weekend so that Tamil Nadu's neighbours could not buy a bottle on the Kerala side and walk it back across. The notification covered the three days around polling — April 21, 22 and 23 — and the May 4 counting day, in a 5 km strip running the length of the inter-state boundary. Petitioner James moved the Kerala High Court, where Justice S Manu noted that the Additional Chief Secretary lacked any power to issue the notification — Section 54 of the Kerala Abkari Act vests that authority in district magistrates — and that Section 135C of the Representation of the People Act restricts liquor sales in polling areas only. The court was direct: 'no provision under the Abkari Act or the Representation of the People Act justifies the issuance of an order prohibiting sale of liquor in the State of Kerala.' The order was stayed two days before Tamil voters reached the booth. Kerala border villages were once again free to sell beer to anyone, including Tamil voters who hadn't actually planned to ask.