Excise Commissioner forms four Special Teams to check and prepare a comprehensive report 

Mysuru: Even as the Urban Development (UD) Minister Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah minced no words in acknowledging the lapses on the part of Excise Department in checking illegal liquor business, there is no stop yet on violations.  

When Star of Mysore conducted a reality check after the recent fatal fire at a restobar in Dattagalli that claimed the lives of two cooks and left six others injured with burns, there were grave violations which came to notice, especially at wine stores operating on CL-2 type licence to sell Indian Made Liquor (IML) and Foreign Made Liquor (FML). Such licencees are permitted to sell bottled liquor, but there is no permission to allow consumption of liquor at the same premises.  

But, dim lit rooms are built attached to the wine stores, to allow the customers to down a peg or two, in clear violation of the licence norms. It is an open secret that a wine store usually has another structure right next door with its own nameboard but it actually belongs to the wine store itself. In this space, people who buy liquor from the wine store and go and consume it along with snacks provided there, essentially convert this wine store into a bar and restaurant. 

In Mysuru city, there are  104 wine stores possessing CL-2 licence, but many of them are operating like a bar and restaurant.  

Apart from wine stores, there are 103 bar and restaurants having CL-9 licence, 103 CL-7 licence given to hotels and 11 Mysore Sales International Limited (MSIL) liquor outlets under CL-11(C) licence and 19 Recreation Clubs falling under CL-4 licence. 

State Excise Commissioner R. Venkatesh Kumar said, four Special Teams are being formed to regulate illegal liquor outlets.  

Venkatesh Kumar further said, if illegal activities come to notice, action will be initiated against the owners, either by booking cases or imposing penalty. The Commissioner added that instructions have been given to officers to submit a comprehensive report after carrying out inspections. 

Excise DC cuts call 

When Star of Mysore tried to reach Excise Deputy Commissioner S. Nagarajappa over phone, his mobile phone number was not reachable. The buzz is that Nagarajappa, who is facing consequences over sitting lame on the illegal restobar that went up in flames, where liquor was also being supplied in violation of norms, has switched off his phone. 

Earlier in the morning, when Star of Mysore reporter called Nagarajappa, he picked up the phone but when asked about the continued operation of illegal bar and restaurant with just wine store licence, he cut the call.