Five policemen posted at South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj (North) police station have been suspended for failing to prevent sale of liquor to around 100 people including minors for several hours beyond the permissible time limit. The owners of the joint who failed to display the licence when asked to do so have also been arrested in connection with the violation.
According to the police, they conducted a raid at Club Billionaire around 3-30 a.m. on Friday and found a group of around 100 people consuming alcohol there. The Delhi Police guidelines state that all places serving alcoholic beverages should close down by 12 a.m.
“When asked to produce their licence, the pub owners failed to do so. Among the customers, there were 13 minors. A medical examination of all those present was conducted and the results confirmed the presence of alcohol in the blood samples,” said a police officer.
The officer added that besides the minors, there were scores of those below the age of 25, the threshold age for serving liquor in the Capital. A drug test was also conducted on the samples, the result of which was found to be negative.
Dereliction of duty
The raid team further found that there was prima facie dereliction of duty on the part of some policemen in the area. Taking action against them, the higher authorities of the districts suspended a sub-inspector and a constable each and three constables, posted in the Vasant Kunj (North) under whose jurisdiction the pub, located in Kishangarh, falls.
A case was registered under Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code, section 42 (If any licence holder or any person acting on his behalf, sells or delivers any liquor to any person apparently under the age of twenty-five years) of Delhi Excise Act, 2009.
The officer said that since the owners did not display the licence, Section 28/112 (Penalty for not obtaining licence in respect of place of public entertainment or certificate of registration in respect of eating house) and Section 32/113 (violating the conditions of any licence) of the Delhi Police Act were also slapped against them.
The pub has been challaned for a similar offence in the past too, said the police.
The arrested persons have been identified as Prateek Chaudhary, Amit Nagpal and Satvinder Sehrawat.
