It is clear that Telangana Prohibition and Excise department had permitted Radisson Blue Plaza hotel to serve liquor 24 hours a day to customers on its bar premises. Going by the official permission, a customer can go to the bar in that hotel and consume liquor anytime of the day or night.
But the catch lies as to what exactly does a customer mean. The prime purpose of permitting a bar in a star hotel to serve liquor 24 hours is to cater to the needs of international travellers or persons checking into the hotel for staying. Thus the customer in this context meant a person who had checked into the hotel room or an international traveller.
“The spirit of according permission to the star rated hotels (four star and above) to serve liquor for 24 hours is in view of its clientele and not for general public,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner C. V. Anand said. ‘Other customers (who are not guests of the hotel) cannot be permitted to consumer liquor in such bars,” he said.
Mr. Anand earlier worked as Deputy Commissioner of Police (East and Central zones) and Hyderabad Traffic Police Additional Commissioner. “Having worked as Prohibition and Excise Director and as DCP in city police, I make it clear that bar operators in star hotels cannot allow other than hotel guests to consume liquor 24 hours a day,” he said.
The city police chief also said that such bar operators have to secure permission of the police. “Section 21 of the City Police Act says that any place of public halt being operated beyond 9 p.m. and till 5 a.m. requires to secure license from police to transact business,” Mr. Anand said.
Interestingly, the P&E department which ‘permits bar operators to serve liquor 24 hours a day to customers’ has not clearly defined who constitutes a customer. “A customer can be any citizen unless categorically specified. Though the idea of according permission to serve liquor is to meet the requirements of a star hotel, who should be permitted to avail the facility is not clearly mentioned,” a P&E officer said.
Taking advantage of the lack of clarity on this point, some bar operators were running their business from midnight to early hours. Ongoing investigation indicated that the bar which was raided recently by Task Force sleuths had been allowing everyone to avail facility of 24-hour liquor supply.
Was it only the suspended Banjara Hills Inspector responsible for allowing the bar to carry out business freely? What were the other superior police officers doing all this while? These are questions none is ready to answer.
