A resident of Hassan city has alleged that officers of the Excise Department have delayed in sanctioning him licence to sell liquor in his lodge (CL-7 licence) because he is Dalit.
K.V. Venkatesh told presspersons here on Friday that the officers in Hassan had delayed even after the Excise Commissioner granted him prior approval.
Mr. Venkatesh, who belongs to Korama caste, one of the Scheduled Castes, got the CL-7 licence for his lodge with 10 double-rooms for 2015-16. The licence was not renewed for the next year as the High Court of Karnataka lifted the relaxation in eligibility criteria extended to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
An applicant should have a lodge/hotel with 20 double-rooms to seek a CL-7 licence. The SC, ST applicants could apply for the licence with a hotel/lodge even with 10 rooms. As the High Court cancelled the relaxation in 2016, Mr. Venkatesh’s licence was not renewed. However, later the State government revised the criteria for all by fixing the 10-room norm for all applicants.
“I applied for a licence after the government revised the norms and paid licence fee of ₹6.32 lakh in September 2017. But I have not got the licence. The Excise Commissioner gave prior approval for my application in April this year. But, the Deputy Commissioner (Excise) and his subordinates have been delaying the grant of licence,” Mr. Venkatesh said.
Further, he said he was the only Dalit among the 293 licence holders in the district and the officers were making all efforts to deny him the right to do business. “I have built the lodge by obtaining a loan of ₹64 lakh from a bank. I have not been able to pay monthly instalments, prompting the bank to issue notices to me,” he said.
Official refutes charges
When The Hindu contacted M. Ravindra, DC (Excise) of Hassan, he said the allegations were baseless. “I have forwarded the file to the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) of Hassan, who is the licence issuing authority. The present DC P.C. Jaffer was transferred to Hassan ahead of elections. He was busy with the elections all these days,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Venkatesh complained to the Lokayukta, human rights commission and other agencies seeking justice.
