Four arrested for forging occasional liquor license at Noida restaurant

The suspects forged the authentic license and changed the dates, from April 5 to April 6 to save on the license fee

Noida: A joint team of Noida police and the Excise Department inspected a restaurant on Saturday night and arrested four people, including the manager, and booked its owner for allegedly forging the occasional liquor license and serving alcohol, an official said on Sunday.

The suspects have been booked under sections of cheating and forgery of documents of Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Excise Act. (HT Photo)

According to Subodh Kumar, District Excise Officer (DEO), the restaurant is located in Sector 132, and an inspection was carried out by a joint team of Sector 126 police station personnel and excise officers.

“We received a tip-off that the operators of the ‘Burash’ restaurant have forged the liquor license and are serving liquor here to customers illegally. A joint team carried out a search at the restaurant and found that they had edited the dates on a hard copy of the occasional license, procured from the district excise department’s online portal,” the officer said.

An occasional liquor license is a single-day liquor permit that can be procured through the excise department’s online portal at a fee of ₹11,000 per day. It’s valid only for the day that it is issued for and expires. Several restaurants, not having a permanent bar license in Gautam Budh Nagar, opt for occasional liquor license to serve liquor to customers, said officials.

“The suspects had forged the authentic license and changed the dates. They had an authentic license for April 5. But they edited it to April 6 and extended a day to save on the license fee,” said the officer, adding that upon checking their license on the excise portal it was found that the license was not meant for April 6.

Police also recovered 51 cans of beer and four bottles of liquor from the suspects’ possession.

Varun Khera, head of the National Restaurants Association of India (Noida chapter), said that the body condemns illegal activities by the restaurant.

“Serving alcohol by a restaurant without a valid license from the district excise department sets a wrong precedent. Further, showing a forged license is even more condemnable. Restaurants should abide by laws of the government,” he said.

The restaurant’s co-owner Rishab Gupta said that they are in discussions with the authorities as well as “our legal consultants to resolve the matter at the earliest”.

The suspects have been booked under sections of cheating and forgery of documents of Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Excise Act at Sector 126 police station and further investigations are underway.