Hotel Hayat Rabbani reopens after 74 days
THE INCIDENT Civic body sealed the hotel on March 23 after cow vigilantes laid siege to it, claimed beef was served
Seventy-four days after it was sealed by the authorities following a siege by cow vigilantes over rumours that it served beef, a hotel in Jaipur finally reopened on Thursday.
Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) had sealed the Hotel Hayat Rabbani on March 19. Samples of meat served there had been seized for tests. The hotel remained shut despite a forensic science laboratory report stating that the seized meat was not beef.
The owners moved the court, which directed the JMC to unseal the hotel. The civic body, however, challenged the order.
The hotel was opened after the Jaipur district and sessions court quashed the appeal by the civic body on May 23.
Naeem Rabbani, the owner, was a relieved man on Thursday. “The hotel has finally been opened today after the court order. In the last 74 days, I sustained loss of lakhs of rupees and have been through extremely tough times,” Rabbani said.
“When the court ordered the opening of the hotel for the first time on April 29, the JMC opposed it and I filed case of contempt of court against the civic body,” he said.
Earlier, on March 19, a crowd of more than 100 cow vigilantes led by Sadhvi Kamal “Didi”, the
In the last 74 days, I sustained loss of lakhs of rupees and have been through extremely tough time.
self-styled chief of Rashtriya Mahila Gauraksha Dal assembled in front of the hotel, chanting slogans of “Bharat mata ki jai and “Narendra Modi zindabad”.
“The hotel Hayat Rabbani in Jaipur is involved in various illegal activities including lodging Pakistani nationals illegally and employing child labourers. The locals have also complained to me that every Sunday beef is served,” the Sadhvi had then told the Hindustan Times.
Kavita Srivastava of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties said, “The illegal act of the Jaipur mayor to seal the hotel on baseless facts has exposed the collusion between the JMC-police and gau rakshaks. Naeem Rabbani was targeted as he is a Muslim.”