HC raps Mumbai cops for demanding license fees from restaurants

The court, while granting interim relief to the restaurant from paying the fees demanded by the police, has directed cops to file a reply justifying its action of seeking payment of the license fees for the period when the restaurant was not functional

The Bombay high court has rapped the city police commissioner’s office for issuing a demand notice to a restaurant asking it to pay license fees retrospectively from 2018 despite the lockdown. The eatery had approached the HC after it was informed by the police that the restaurant would be closed if the fees were not paid.

The Bombay high court has rapped the city police commissioner’s office for issuing a demand notice to a restaurant asking it to pay license fees retrospectively from 2018 despite the lockdown.

The court, while granting interim relief to the restaurant from paying the fees demanded by the police, has directed cops to file a reply justifying its action of seeking payment of the license fees for the period when the restaurant was not functional.

A division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Madhabv Jamdar while hearing the petition filed by Anitha Ashok Shetty, proprietor of a restaurant in Dadar (E) was informed by advocate Veena Thadani that her client had received a demand notice from Mumbai police asking her to pay ₹12.6 lakh towards license fees failing which the establishment would be forced to shut down.

Thadani informed the bench that prior to December 2019, the premise license fees was ₹2000 per month however in December 2019 it was increased to ₹2 lakh per month and was applied retrospectively from 2018. Thadani submitted that on February 12, 2020, her client received a demand notice from the police asking her to pay ₹12,60,000/- as renewal fees for the orchestra license for the period from 2019 to 2021, failing which she was threatened that the license would be cancelled or the entire business would be shut down.

The bench was informed that in light of the lockdown which started from March 2020, Shetty made four representations till July 30 to the authorities seeking exemption from payment of the license fees as the business had come to a standstill, but the police insisted with the demand and threat. Aggrieved by the action of the police , she approached the HC seeking setting aside of the February 2020 demand notice and stay on proceedings ensuing from the notice. After hearing the submissions the bench held, “We are particularly shocked at the insistence on payment of fees without showing any latitude at all right up to 2021.”

The court added that increasing the license fees and demanding it from the restaurant for the period while it was not offering any service was unacceptable. Staying the operation of the demand notice and proceedings ensuing from it the court directed the police to file an affidavit in response to the petition and posted hearing of the petition to January 27, 2022.