Excise dept 'denies' licence to B'lore Club, seals liquor counters

The Excise department has refused to renew the liquor licence of Bangalore Club reportedly because it has not registered itself under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act and is yet being run as the Association of Persons (AOP).

The club authorities, who did not want to be named, said the Excise department was “arm-twisting the club” and denying licence on the ground that the club had not been registered under the Societies Act.

“It is a clear case of pressure on us. We don’t know why they are harassing us even after we have fulfilled all the conditions. We have explained the difficulties of registering under the Societies Act to the urban deputy commissioner. The government is not responding even after this. Despite this, there is pressure on us to be registered under the Societies Act,” the club authorities told Deccan Herald.

Secretary of the club, Colonel (retd) K D Murthy, in a note to the members has stated that the licence was not being renewed since the club had not registered itself under the Societies Act.

The note states that “...On July 3, 2015, the Excise department served an order stating that the club is not registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960, and hence the CL4 and RVB licences are not renewed for the year 2015-16. The department sealed the liquor stock.” The club authorities said the officials on Friday sealed the liquor stock in the club on the basis of the order issued by the Excise department.

This, the club authorities say, is not tenable. “We have paid the fee for renewal, which is Rs 6.09 lakh. We have been waiting for the Excise department to issue its order, but nothing has happened and instead they came and sealed the liquor counters. Why this is happening we have no idea. The Club has been in existence since 1878 and much before the excise law came into force. The club has been running smoothly since then, so why is the trouble happening now?”

One-month ban

It may be recalled that in December 2014, the Excise department had imposed a one-month ban on serving of liquor at multiple counters at the club. It was revoked a day before Christmas, after a penalty of Rs 50,000 was paid. The new order, though, comes with a new clause. The Excise department had served a notice on the club asking it to register under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act for renewal of licences. “The Club,” Murthy has said, “gave a reply stating the reasons why it cannot change the status from Association of Persons (AOP) and register under this Act.”

It is then that the matter went to the Bengaluru Urban DC, V Shankar, who summoned the club’s office-bearers on May 15. The club’s counsel clearly explained the difficulties they face in registering under the Societies Act.”

“As the club didn’t receive the renewal challan or a notice from the Excise department, we filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court, which was heard on June 26. The court directed the Excise department to issue a challan to the club to renew the licences,” the note states. The club then received the challan, paid the licence fee and submitted all documents for renewal on June 29. An amount of Rs 6.09 lakh was paid for renewal.

“First, we were waiting for the challan to be issued to us and then for the licence after payment of the requisite fee. Nothing came initially, but later the renewal challan was issued. We have not yet received the licence itself. This is where we are clueless and don’t know why the licence hasn’t come. We don’t know whether the Excise department understands why we cannot register under the Societies Act. We will be having a series of meetings and the club’s committee will decide what action to take from hereon after our legal counsel briefs us on the issue,” a top club functionary said.