NO ESCAPE FOR GURGAON PUBS
The excise office says it will consider only plans approved by the town and country planning department in Haryana
Cosmetic structural changes such as shifting the entrance will not help pubs, bars and liquor shops escape the SC’s booze ban, the Haryana excise department has said. Only plans approved by the town and country planning department will be considered, it added.
GURGAON: Cosmetic structural changes such as shifting the entrance will not help pubs, bars and liquor shops escape the Supreme Court’s 500-metre cap on their location from highways, the Haryana excise department warned on Wednesday.
The excise office said it would consider only plans approved by the town and country planning department to make changes in establishments selling alcohol that fall within the court’s ceiling.
The warning follows reports that bottle shop and bar owners in Gurgaon are planning to redo their business premises to circumvent the court order, which banned the sale of liquor within 500 metres of state and national highways from April 1.
The ban affects pub and bars such as those inside CyberHub, the 200,000-square-feet Gurgaon mall, which is a popular watering hole in the city dotted with multinational offices and factories. Allegations have swirled that malls are trying to make changes such as shift the entrance to a corner of the building farthest from the highway, hoping to squeeze a few extra metres that will be just about enough to beat the ban.
Residents of Ambience Lagoon had alleged that a road was blocked to change the entrance to Leela Ambience hotel and Ambience Mall. A spokesperson of Ambience Developers dismissed the allegation.