Consult Delhi Police: Delhi High Court tells AAP government on keeping bars open till 3 AM

The Delhi High Court recently indicated that the Delhi Police has a say on keeping bars in the national capital open till 3 AM, as offering alcohol to the general public concerns public safety and maintaining law and order [National Restaurant Association of India v. Commissioner of Police & Anr]..Justice Yashwant Varma accordingly directed the Delhi government's Excise Department and the Delhi Police Commissioner to constitute a consultative group to examine the feasibility of keeping establishments serving alcohol open till 3 AM..The Court was of the view that though the Excise Act and 2010 Rules thereunder empowered the Excise Commissioner to prescribe the operational timing of liquor vends, the same had to be understood and interpreted in light of the powers of the Delhi Police to control and regulate the functioning of eating houses and places of public entertainment..The order, therefore, noted that bars or places where alcohol or intoxicating substances are served to members of the public “would clearly fall within the ambit” of the Delhi Police Act.“Since the operation of those outlets and venues would undoubtedly have a bearing on issues such as security of the public, the issue of maintenance of law and order, it would not only have been expedient but the law itself would mandate a joint and consultative deliberation between the authorities of the Excise Department and the Delhi Police before directives such as those incorporated in Paragraph 5.1(ii) are framed,” the Court noted..Clause 5.1 (ii) of the New Excise Policy issued by the Delhi government allows bars in hotels, restaurants and clubs to operate till 3 AM.The Court, however, observed that it didn’t intend to stand in the way of the Delhi government’s Excise Department, which had come up with the policy allowing hotels, restaurants and clubs to serve alcohol till 3 AM.“It may be observed that while the Court does not intend to stand in the way of the Excise Department framing a policy or the exercise of power flowing from the Act and the Rules, that would necessarily have to tempered by and harmonised with the authority of the Delhi Police to regulate the operational timing of eating houses and places of public entertainment as conferred by the 1978 Act and the Regulations framed thereunder,” the order underlined..Counsel representing the Delhi Police earlier submitted that the Delhi Eating Houses Registration Regulation, 1980 were framed owing to the powers conferred upon the Delhi Police Commissioner, including the authority to regulate places of public entertainment. These regulations empower the Delhi Police to issue licenses to eating houses. It was submitted that any place or venue where alcohol or intoxicating drugs were supplied and that fell within the ambit of a “place of public entertainment” under Section 2(l) of the Delhi Police Act, 1978 was permitted to remain open only till 1 AM.He further highlighted that opening of bars and other places where liquor is served had an “indelible connect” with the issue of public order..The Excise Department, on the other hand, contended that Rule 55 of the Delhi Excise Rules, 2010 empowered the Excise Commissioner to specify the hours that may be maintained by outlets and licensees for the sale of alcohol..On the last occasion, the High Court had called on the Excise Department to clarify whether or not the prescription of timing of liquor vends under the Excise Policy was framed with due consultation with the Delhi Police.After examining the affidavit that was filed, the Court noted that the Delhi Police was neither consulted before the inclusion of the timing in the Excise Policy nor was its order prescribing closing time of 1 AM on December 10, 2020 taken into consideration.“It would have been expedient for the excise authorities as well as GNCTD to have elicited the views of the Delhi police before holding out that bars in hotels, clubs and restaurants would be permitted to operate till 3am,” the Court said..Delhi High Court seeks government response in plea to allow bars to serve liquor till 3 AM sans interference.The joint consultative group has been directed to complete its exercise within two weeks and place a report on record. The matter will be heard again on August 2, 2022..Senior Advocates Jayant Mehta and Vinay Kumar Garg, with Advocates PS Singhal, Parv Garg, Pawas Kulshrestha, KS Rekhi and Akansh Singhal appeared for the petitioner association.Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh with Advocates Harish V Shankar, Srish Kumar Mishra, Sagar Mehlawat and Suhasini Sen argued for the Delhi Police.Advocates Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Arun Panwar, Siddharth K Dwivedi, HF Sachdeva and Savita Sethi represented the Delhi government Excise Department..[Read Order]