22 February,2011 06:26 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth
Cyberworld is abuzz after cops picked up youngsters for drinking at bar without a permit; read on to avoid a similar situation
How serious an offence do you think getting a drink at the nearest pub is? To start at the beginning, did you know you were committing a crime every time you caught up with your friends over a cocktail, unless you had a drinking permit?
After last Friday's police raids on 162 bars and 300 arrests, specifically the one at Andheri's LP Bar which led to 23 young men being held overnight, MiD DAY tells you about the laws of drinking, which a majority of Mumbaikars breach on a daily basis, and which have already landed city bars on the rocks.
Before throwing back a drink or dozen, check if you are in agreement with the following to avoid being jailed:
>That you are over 25 years u00a0of age
>That you have a drinking u00a0permit
>That while buying or transporting alcohol, you carry the permit with you
>That the bar you're drinking at has all its licences in place yes, you will be jailed even if it is the bar that doesn't have the permit. If you are present on the premises, you can be escorted to jail.u00a0
>And finally, keep in mind that if found to be violating any of the above, you can either be jailed for up to five years, or fined for Rs 50,000.
Liquor laws in state
As per the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, in Maharashtra, a liquor permit is necessary for purchase, possession, transport, and consumption of liquor.
Any person above the age of 25 years is eligible for obtaining a permit. But bars and pubs mention 21 years as the drinking age. Experts say it is a classic case of a law that is almost always breached.
u00a0
The police can arrest anyone for consuming or buying alcohol in a restaurant or a store without the permit.
The Act came into force on June 16, 1949. Liquor permits are issued under Rule 70-D of the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules, 1953.
Incidentally, Maharashtra is the only state in the country where one needs a permit to drink alcohol.
Where can you get permits
The permit can be obtained from the excise offices in various locations like Andheri,
Chunabhatti, Chembur, Malwani, Bandra East, old customs house, and others.
Cost
One-day permit (available at all bars, pub, wine shops and hotel): Rs 5 for Indian-manufactured foreign liquor or IMFL, and Rs 2 for country liquor
One-year permit: Rs 100
Lifetime permit: Rs 1,000
What you need u00a0to get a permit
An identity proof along with two photographs needs to be submitted for obtaining the one-year or lifetime permit. The permits can be obtained immediately on submission of the application.
If found guilty...
Drinking without permit is a cognisable and bailable offence. There are various penalties depending on the circumstances and factors, like the quantity of liquor involved. The offence can attract a maximum fine of Rs 50,000 and imprisonment up to five years. The magnitude of the penalty yanks drinking to the same grade of crime as assault and rioting.
Check posts
There are 12 check posts in the state, manned by an 8-member unit including an inspector, two sub-inspectors, and three constables. The on-duty officer's job is to check transport of illicit liquor, spirit and molasses, liquor without valid license and transport permits. The inspectors are empowered to issue transport passes for the liquor, alcohol and other excisable articles ferried through the state.
Who issues licence to bars in the city
The city's bars need to procure two licences: one from the police, followed by another from the BMC. Only after the police issues a public performance licence under the Mumbai Police Act 1951, does the excise department issue their licence to the bar.
'Scrap the law'
Almost a day after 350 bars across the city decided to down shutters for an indefinite period ('Stay home for WC beer fix', February 21, MiD DAY) to protest alleged harassment by the police and excise department, a team of restaurant owners met the State Excise Principal Secretary Ashwani Kumar yesterday.
They demanded immediate action on the inference by the police in bar business. They also asked for abolishing the laws necessitating drinking permits.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Sudhakar Shetty, president of Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR), confirmed that the members have drafted their grievances to Kumar.
"People hardly know that they have to get a permit for drinking. Why can't the government abolish this baseless law, which exists only on paper and is rarely enforced?
A recent notification by the state government clearly mentions that the police should not interfere in excise matters," Shetty said.u00a0 Shetty added that bar owners will remain shut until cops stop their "frivolous" raids.
Sukesh Shetty, owner of Pratiksha restaurant at Mumbai Central, was equally agitated. "This law existed in the colonial days.
u00a0
And we have been fighting for it to be abolished for seven years. But the government is unable to do anything.
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Mumbai is the financial capital that receives thousands of tourists. Such rules which will affect the revenue received from tourism," he said.
Why LP? Why now?
Questions are being raised over the cops' choice of LP alone for raiding as the bar is frequented, even after the 1.30 am deadline, by policemen themselves.
LP bar is also a popular hangout for journalists because it is open until the wee hours of the morning and many journalists even tap their sources in the police by bringing them here.
"They said the raid was conducted because the bar serves liquor on the ground floor without having a licence for it.
But, this fact was known to policemen in the area for a long time because they have themselves sat and consumed alcohol on the ground floor after the deadline.
The bar was singled out for the raid despite many other bars being present in the area," said a local source.
"The bar owners and policemen had an altercation related to some money matters a few days back and that may have led to the raid being conducted.
u00a0
Why else would they have raided the bar now when they allowed it to stay open even after the deadline with cops present only a few metres away?" he added.
The manager of the bar said he had no idea that the raid was about to happen. He said the cops knew about liquor being served on the ground floor and could have warned them to u00a0stop doing so instead of raiding the bar and putting him and many other teenagers behind bars.
"No bar manager or any young men were arrested in raids on other bars in the city. I don't think the raid was the outcome of R R Patil's warning alone.
Also, raids are usually conducted after 1 am. This time, an entire posse of policemen from Andheri police station, including the zonal DCP, ACP and senior inspectors turned up for the raid around 11 pm itself.
Something is fishy," said the source.
LP Bar and Restaurant, a popular hangout in Andheri (East), was raided last Friday
Crackdown on LP
As a spate of raids by the police and the excise department landed over 300 people behind bars, many admitted that they had no idea they were violating a law.
They were not aware that a rule existed which demanded that you hold a permit while consuming alcohol in a bar. In fact only four lakh of the city's 18 million people have licences, statistics reveal.
In fact, after one of the raids, the one on Laxmi Punjab bar in Andheri East, a group of 23 boys who were detained by the police for six hours stared a blog.
In it, Arun Ravi, a musician who was part of the group, expressed their anguish over being punished for an innocent get-together at a bar. Some of them were not even drinking, medical reports later showed.
MiD DAY had reported about the raid three day ago ('Cops 'ground' bar revellers', February 18). The youth was released only the next morning, after people in positions of power intervened, sources said.u00a0
After the post, the blogosphere was flooded by angry reactions, from people who condemn the outdated law and question its relevance.
The Other Side
MiD DAY spoke to PP Muttiyal, deputy commissioner of police (Zone XI) under whose jurisdiction LP Bar falls. He said, "The bar did not have the permit to serve liquor. According to the Prohibition Act, we are supposed to prosecute all those who are present on the premises.
The allegation made by Ravi of detaining the boys until late morning is right. But many people were sent for a medical test. And we released those who were not under the influence of alcohol, after medical reports confirmed their sobriety."
Muttiyal denied the allegation that a constable had been drinking in the bar during the raid. "If we have evidence, I will take stern action against the constable," he promised
Punishment if caught
Under Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, drinking without liquor permit can attract a maximum fine of R50,000 and imprisonment up to 5 years
How do you get a permit?
Two photographs and identity proofs need to be submitted to obtain an annual or lifetime permit. The permits can be obtained immediately on submission of the application.
Cost of permits One-day permit:
Rs 5 for IMFL, Rs 2 for country liquor (available at all bars, pub, wine shops and hotels)
One-year permit: Rs 100
Lifetime permit: Rs 1,000
Remember
>That while buying or transporting alcohol, you must carry the permit with you
>That the bar you're drinking at has all its licences in place yes, you will be jailed even if it is the bar that doesn't have the permit. If you are present on the premises, you can find yourself behind bars.
