Kochi: Kerala High Court on Friday granted five more days to the state to issue bar licences to nine three star and one four star hotels.

Justice A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai posted the case to January 5 and asked the state to file a compliance report.

The court also asked the Taxes Commissioner and Excise Commissioner to appear before it at 10.15 a.m. if the government failed to comply with the directives.

The court said the action of the government was nothing but wilful disobedience to the court order. “At the same time, it is only just and proper to grant a breathing time as a last chance to the officials to comply with the order,” the court said.

Advocate-General K.P. Dandapani sought time till January 10 for complying with the order but the court refused to accept it. The court had earlier directed the Excise Commissioner to comply with order directing to renew the bar licences on December 10.

The bar owners challenged this and filed a contempt plea. The petitioners argued that the order had not been complied with by the government.

The Excise Commissioner submitted his inability to renew the FL-3 licences of the petitioners’ hotels without any directions from the government.