Excise officials have directed non five star classification bard to shut down
Excise Circle inspector B Tenny Mon serves bar closure notice to V R Vivek, MD, hotel Saj Lucia at East Fort, in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. The department has served closure notice to 292 working bars except five star hotels across the state
Thiruvananthapuram: The excise officials on Thursday served notices on 712 bar hotels in the state directing them to close the bars by September 12 in view of the government's new policy to allow bar licences only to hotels with five-star classification. Out of the 732 bars in the state, only 20 have five-star status. Of the remaining 712 bars, 292 were functioning and licences to 418 were not renewed this financial year on the basis of a court order. Two bars had not sought renewal of licence this year.
“We have issued notices to all the 712 bars intimating them of the government’s decision,” assistant excise commissioner K. Suresh Babu said. Excise circle inspectors handed over the closure notice issued by excise commissioner directing the licensees to surrender the licence to the deputy commissioners of excise concerned by September 12. The closure notices were issued by invoking sections of the Abkari Act and Foreign Liquor Rules. In some bars where officials refused to accept the notice, it was pasted on the door of the bar.
Among the 712 bars issued notices, the maximum numbers were in Ernakulam (173), of which 68 are still functioning. The number of bars issued closure notices in each district is as follows, with the number of bars that will function till September 12 in bracket: Thiruvananthapuram, 81 (31), Kollam, 54 (24), Pathanamthitta, 24 (8), Alappuzha, 38 (21), Kottayam, 69 (19), Idukki, 25 (5), Ernakulam, 173 (68), Thrissur, 112 (38), Palakkad, 36 (23), Malappuram, 26 (12), Kozhikode, 29 (24), Wayanad, 11 (2), Kannur, 27 (13), Kasargod, 7 (4).
( Source : dc correspondent )
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