By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 8 Oct: Taking strict action on a public complaint, District Magistrate Savin Bansal has ordered closure of a liquor shop for 15 days. Local residents from the area surrounding Behl Chowk on Rajpur Road had recently complained to the DM during a public hearing about the open consumption of alcohol at the liquor shop till well past midnight, every day. The shop is located in the Opal Lounge building near Behl Chowk. The DM had directed the SDM, Sadar, to take action on the complaint.
During investigation of another related complaint earlier, it was found that a bar was being illegally operated outside the Opal Lounge Building in temporary shops outside the building and in its basement. The basement was then shut down, and a fine of Rs 5,00,000 was imposed.
The inspection report of the SDM, Sadar, mentioned that an illegal bar was found operating in the basement of the Opal Lodge building. Tables for alcohol consumption and a large quantity of single-use plastic cups, glasses, and garbage were also found at the spot. A detailed investigation into the ownership of the illegal liquor consumption site operating in the basement was conducted by a joint team of the SDM, Sadar, Judicial, District Excise Officer, and Dehradun Nagar Nigam. The investigation revealed that The Liquor Hub (a licensed foreign liquor shop) was selling alcohol on the spot but in addition was also selling liquor through several illegal stalls set up around the area, where single-use plastic glasses and cups, ice, snack packets, cigarettes, etc., for alcohol consumption were being sold.
The complaint by local residents was that a canteen for alcohol consumption was also being run in the basement during the evening and night, which was also found to be true. The local residents had apprehended that as The Liquor Hub is the only licensed shop for alcohol sales at the site, possibly the shop itself is allowing people to consume alcohol in the basement after sale. However, there are other two bars operating in the Opal Lodge building, The Opal Bar & Restaurant, and BYOB, but both have a seating capacity of approximately 80 people as per the rules and were serving liquor in accordance with the rules, hence the doubt now rested on The Liquor Hub.
According to Excise Policy 2024, point 10.1, the opening hours for country/foreign liquor shops will be from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Liquor shops located within 10 km of the interstate border can remain open until midnight. According to point 6.6 of the Excise Policy 2024, the FL-5D licensee must arrange for alcohol consumption within the premises adjacent to the shop under the prescribed conditions, for which an FL-5E license (canteen) must be obtained. The license fee for this is 15 percent of the shop’s license fee. Anything operating without permission and beyond the time limit is illegal.
The DM has now ordered suspension of the license of the shop The Liquor Hub for fifteen day and its licensee Vimlesh Kumaar under the provisions of Section 34 and Section 35 of the Uttarakhand Excise Manual Part-1.
