BARS & OFF-SHOPS ON BARASAT HIGHWAYS BACK IN BUSINESS

April 7: Bars and off-shops along two national highways that cut across Barasat, the headquarters of North 24-Parganas, resumed selling liquor on Thursday evening after an alleged verbal go-ahead from excise officials freed them from the shackles of the Supreme Court's ban.

Metro travelled a 15km stretch from New Barrackpore to Duttapukur, straddling NH 12 and 112, today afternoon and visited at least 10 bars and off-shops that were doing business in violation of the apex court's directive that liquor cannot be sold within 500 metres of any national or state highway.

"We received a call last evening from an excise officer, granting us permission to reopen," the owner of an outlet said.

Managers or proprietors of the other off-shops and bars claimed to have received a similar clearance from excise officials. A senior excise official admitted that retailers had been verbally told to liquidate their stocks. "We had neither officially told them to close their shops, nor to reopen. There is no written communication," he said.

Barasat was the only district headquarters in Bengal to go dry when the apex court's ban took effect on April 1. Dakbungalow More in the heart of Barasat town is where NH 12, which leads to North Bengal, branches into NH 112, or the historic Jessore Road that culminates at Petrapole on the India-Bangladesh border.

At a bar with an off-shop barely five metres from the NH 12 carriageway, two men were seated at the counter when this reporter paid a visit. "We reopened the bar and the off-shop at 6pm yesterday. That was after our manager said he had received a call from the officer in charge of the excise department, saying we could run our business. We are selling our old stocks," said one of the employees.

An off-shop close to Dakbungalow More had several customers stocking up on beer and hard liquor. The outlet is one of the more popular ones in the area, mainly because of its prime location.

"I had kept our outlet closed for a week and suffered huge losses. I decided to reopen the business only after I received a nod from an excise officer. If the excise department had not given me permission, would I dare do business in defiance of the Supreme Court's order?" the owner of the outlet said.

According to the retailer, several of his customers had told him about Delhi issuing a notice allowing bars and off-shops along the highways to do business. The rumour doing the rounds is that an ordinance is in the works to bypass the court's ban.

A man in his mid-40s who had just bought two bottles of beer from the Barasat shop seemed delighted that he would not have to travel far for his favourite tipple. "This is a great relief. In the past three days, I have had to take the trouble of going to a shop 4km away to buy beer. Worse still, I had to stand in a queue of about 100 people," he said.

During the dry week, many residents of Barasat had found an oasis in a shop on Badu Road, nearly a kilometre from Madhyamgram More. A second shop that had stayed open is in Duttapukur, 6km from Barasat town. Some buyers had apparently travelled by local train just to buy liquor from there.

On Jessore Road, a bar-cum-restaurant that had opened three years ago and become popular in the area for "live entertainment", sprang back to life on Thursday evening after a week of drought.

"We reopened after an excise officer gave me the signal over phone. But I am not placing any order for more stocks because I have not received any written order that can allow me to run the business like I did. I do not know for how long this outlet can remain open," said one of the co-owners of the bar.

Inside the watering hole, around 40 per cent of the tables were occupied. The customers, mostly young and middle-aged men, appeared oblivious to the mystery over how permission to reopen the business was granted or secured.

"We had eight outlets in Barasat to choose from and suddenly all of them went out of business. Of course we are relieved that these places have reopened," said one of the customers as beer, vodka and whiskey did the rounds of the tables. There was one exception to the rushed reopening of bars and off-shops. The owner of a bar along Jessore Road at Bamangachi decided not to resume selling liquor despite receiving an alleged call from the excise department.

"An excise officer told me I could reopen the bar. When I asked for permission in writing, he told me that it would be issued soon. Till such time, I could run my business without worry. I did not agree because I do not want to be in trouble for contempt of court," he said.

The excise department collects duty upfront when liquor leaves a manufacturing unit or bottling plant. The government usually deputes an officer to visit the premises, check and release the products. According to the books of the excise department, liquor is considered "sold" when a consignment leaves the plant.

What this means is that the unsold stock that retailers had been saddled with because of the Supreme Court's ban is already treated as "sold" by way of revenue having accrued to the government.

But the excise department cannot afford to overlook any store under the ambit of the highway ban stocking up afresh. "Unless someone lodges a formal complaint against these off-shops flouting rules and the administration is forced to intervene, they can continue liquidating existing stocks," an industry veteran explained.

Additional reporting by Pinak Ghosh