HC raps 'casual' cops on Indiranagar pubs

The Karnataka High Court has come down heavily on the city police over their casual approach in investigating the noise from the pubs in Indiranagar.

Making it clear that it will not tolerate the casual approach, the court directed the police to submit an affidavit by a senior police official detailing the surprise visits to the bars in Indiranagar in a sealed envelope. It also asked the police not to disclose the details of the affidavit to the pub owners.

Hearing a PIL filed by the Defence Colony Residents’ Association and others against the mushrooming of pubs in Indiranagar, a division bench headed by Chief Justice A S Oka also asked the police to furnish details like the manner of the surprise visits and the meter/equipments the police intend to use during the visits among other things.

The court also wanted to know if a study has been done on the number of meters the Bengaluru police may be requiring to gage the noise levels.

The police did not visit the pubs to check the noise levels late at nights and early morning as alleged by the petitioners. They had submitted the report after visiting the pubs in the evening. During the last hearing, the court had asked them to hold a spot inspection at the pubs to check the violation in terms of noise levels.

It had also asked the police to submit a proper affidavit on the kind of action they took in response to the representations challenging the functioning of pubs in the residential areas of Indiranagar.

The court said it cannot accept the police statement without contemporaneous (existing or occurring at the same time) records. It asked details of the police officials who went for the inspection and the manner in which the inspection was held.