In a big relief to 113 bars and hotels across Haryana not being allowed to serve liquor in view of the Supreme Court order banning sale of liquor within 500 metre of National and State Highways earlier this year, the Haryana government has now decided to renew their liquor licences. It includes 32 bars in Gurugram many of them on Sohna Road.
The decision to this affect was taken at the Haryana Cabinet meeting at Chandigarh on Wednesday following Supreme Court clarification that ban on sale of alcohol within 500 metre of National and State Highways did not apply within city limits.
Payment of fee
Additional Chief Secretary, Excise and Taxation, Haryana, Sanjeev Kaushal told The Hindu there were 113 bars whose licences were not renewed because of the prohibitory orders from the Supreme Court and now the government had allowed for their renewal. Mr. Kaushal said the power to renew licences had been delegated to Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioners (DETC) this year and the renewal would be done automatically on payment of the fee.
He said that a couple of bars or hotels in rural areas outside the city limits might still remain affected.
Besides Gurugram, the number of bars or hotels to be benefit from the recent Cabinet decision are Faridabad (10), Ambala (8), Bhiwani (5), Panipat (5), Rewari (5), Sirsa (5), Hisar (5), Karnal (5) and Fatehabad (4) among others.
DETC (West) Gurugram H.C. Dahiya said that several bars along Sohna Road had not applied for renewal earlier, but they were now expected to seek renewal in the light of the new directions.
Vikram Rana, who owns Vapour Bar Exchange in Vipul Trade Centre on Sohna Road, said, it is a welcome decision and he will soon apply for renewal of licence for his bar. Mr. Rana said that he had retained the staff and was also paying rent for the place for the past six months hoping for a relief. He said that he lost business worth more than ₹3 crore over the past six months.
Welcome decision
Hotel and Restaurant Association of Haryana president Manbeer Choudhary said, the delay was caused both on the part of the judiciary and the legislature causing loss to the hotel industry, but it was still a welcome decision. “The Supreme Court had clarified its decision on bars and hotels within city limits in July, but the written order came on August 24. The legislature further took around 20 days to take a formal decision on this,” said Mr. Choudhary.
