'No pressure to act against B'lore Club'

As the prestigious Bangalore Club is in the news for all the wrong reasons for the past one month, the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district V Shankar has said there was no pressure on him to act against it.

The district administration has cancelled the liquor licence of the Club citing violation of Excise rules. The cancellation of licence for a month has cast its shadow on the Christmas and New Year celebrations planned in the Club.

Speaking to reporters, Shankar denied that the action had anything to do with the row between the Additional Director General of Police (Railways) R P Sharma and the Bangalore Club. He said the action was very much on the agenda as the district administration had carried out an inspection of 44 clubs across the City.

“Of the 44 clubs, we found violations in 26 clubs, including Bangalore Club, to whom we have served show-cause notices. The violation in Bangalore Club was serious, so we had to act against it,” said Shankar.

Multiple liquor counters

The main complaint against the Club is that it has multiple liquor sale counters, as against the permitted one, he added. However, the Deputy Commissioner could not point out the violations and said the four excise deputy commissioners were yet to submit their reports.

The row between the Club and Sharma came out in the open when the Bangalore Club security guards and Sharma’s car driver had a spat.  The Club later suspended Sharma’s membership for a month.

The Club authorities tried to approach the government for a ‘truce’, but the meeting with the top bureaucrats did not happen. It is learnt that the government has indicated that it will not interfere in the matter.