Two held for forging licence at Noida restaurant to serve alcohol

According to the district excise officer (DEO, it was found that the suspects, identified as restaurant manager Paritosh Srivastava, 31, a resident of Sector 119, and staffer Karan Kumar, 23, a resident of Agra, had applied for occasional liquor licences for the dates April 28 and 29

A restaurant manager and a staff member were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly forging liquor licence issued by the Gautam Budh Nagar excise department, and serving liquor to customers, said officials.

The suspects in custody. (HT Photo)

According to RB Singh, district excise officer (DEO), Gautam Budh Nagar, the restaurant is located in Sector 117 and an inspection was carried out by a joint team of Sector 113 police station personnel and excise officers.

“We received a tip-off that the operators of the restaurant Yummy Tummy have forged the liquor licence and are serving liquor to customers illegally. Acting on this, a joint police and excise team carried out a search at the restaurant and it was found that they had edited the dates on a hard copy of the occasional licence, which is procured from the district excise department’s online portal,” said Singh.

Occasional liquor licence 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. The licence is only valid for the day that it is issued for and expires the next day. Several restaurants, which do not have a permanent bar licence in Gautam Budh Nagar, opt for occasional liquor licences to serve liquor to customers, said officials.

According to the DEO, it was found that the suspects, identified as restaurant manager Paritosh Srivastava, 31, a resident of Sector 119, and staffer Karan Kumar, 23, a resident of Agra, had applied for occasional liquor licences for the dates April 28 and 29.

“However, the suspects had forged the authentic licence and changed the dates shown on them to April 26 and 27. As a result, they were planning to serve liquor for four days but had procured a licence for only two days. Upon cross-checking in the excise portal, it was found that the restaurant was not given a licence for April 26 and 27. The manager and staff member had shown the excise officials a forged licence,” said the officer.

Police also recovered 22 cans of beer and 11 bottles of whiskey from the possession of the suspects.

The suspects have been booked under sections of cheating and forgery of documents of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under relevant sections of the excise act, said officials. They were produced before the court and sent to judicial custody, added Singh.

“In addition to this, the restaurant has branded itself as ‘Noida’s first BYOB’ — which means Bring Your Own Booze — which is a wrong branding. According to the licence terms, customers cannot bring their own liquor to the restaurant and only the restaurant can serve liquor. The sign board of the restaurant will be taken off by the excise department for misleading customers,” said Singh.

He added that the restaurant was not sealed by the excise department. Singh warned that the department will take strict action against any facility found violating excise laws.

“We are continuously monitoring the activities of all restaurants and other facilities which seek liquor licences, and our teams are also conducting spot checks to keep a track of activities. Any violation of the law will be met with strict punishment,” Singh said.