JOIN USA day after raiding Bangalore Club for alleged violation of norms related to serving of liquor on its premises, the Excise department on Saturday booked a case against the club.
“A team raided Bangalore Club late Friday night and inspected the premises. The club management was found to have violated the approved blueprint. Hence, a case was booked against it under appropriate Excise Act,” said a senior officer of the Excise department.
There were reports that the Excise department had proposed to impose a fine of up to Rs two crore on the club. “The matter is being investigated and we have not levied any fine yet,” the officer clarified.
The Excise department was tipped off about the violation of bar-related norms by the club, which has a CL-4 licence that does not permit multiple counters to sell liquor. However, the club was running multiple liquor counters.
Bangalore Club has been in the news over the last couple of weeks due to some unwarranted incidents. Around 4.30 pm on November 5, ADGP (Railways) R P Sharma, a Civil Service member of the club, arrived at the club to meet a friend. The security guard at the gate on Residency Road stopped Sharma’s car, asked for a valid pass and denied entry to the vehicle.
Subsequently, there were heated exchanges between the driver and the guard. Following the commotion, a supervisor who arrived there identified Sharma and allowed the IPS officer’s car inside the club premises.
Complaints and counter-complaints by R P Sharma’s driver and the club’s security guard were lodged with the Cubbon Park police.
The club had claimed that Sharma’s driver had assaulted security guard Ashiq Uddin Lasker after he asked the IPS officer to produce his membership card. A private agency, to which the club’s security has been outsourced, filed a complaint against the driver.
Sharma had claimed that nobody assaulted anybody and he was in no way connected with the alleged assault. He had alleged that the club was using its institutional powers to mislead the public to cover up its failure to ensure conducive entry to its members.