The liquor shop at MDI Chowk near Sector 17 in Gurgaon. |
Gurgaon, November 6
Haryana’s liquor policy may be a boon to some, but is a nuisance for many. Government functionaries appear to be colluding with the liquor mafia as they often avoid taking action against its
unethical practices.
After the scrapping of the prohibition policy by the then HVP-BJP Government led by Mr Bansi Lal, the liquor mafia is back into business with a vengeance. Liquor contractors set up shops at any place of their liking, even government land, while the authorities look the other way.
There are currently 100 shops both for English and country made liquor and 38 subvends in this district. The present government amended the liquor policy to enable subvends to be opened by authorised liquor contractors of the districts by depositing a sum of Rs 30,000 per subvend.
Liquor contractors and their team members set up vends at places of their choice, sometimes at public places. Although 10-odd vends set up in the city stand out as a sore thumb, the one skirting Sector 17 at the Management Development Institute (MDI) Chowk stands out. This clearly shows how the liquor mafia-administrative-political nexus can twist the rules.
A former liquor contractor set up a shop on a side of the road leading to Maruti Udyog from MDI Chowk. The land is part of a green belt (reserved forest) which falls under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department. The road earlier belonged to the PWD but it has been transferred to HUDA. The Forest Department kept silent about land-grabbing. When residents of Sector 17 and the surrounding areas agitated, the department took the matter to the Environment Court in 2000 merely to complete the formality of paper work and perpetuate the crime. During the pendency of the case the government changed and a new contractor took over the business. The contractor who had violated the rules and has been prosecuted against did not respond to the summons served by the Environment Court and was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) three years ago. The new contractor is officially conducting business from the shop.
Legal experts say that all arguments by the authorities concerned are an exercise to obfuscate the issue. Even if the encroacher has decamped, what stops the authorities concerned from regaining land, they assert. How does the present contractor continue selling liquor from the same vend? they ask.
The Excise and Taxation Department version is that it can object with regard to the site only when it is less than 100 metres from (a) religious place (2) academic institution and (c) hospital. It argues that the site at MDI Chowk is legal as far its parameters are concerned. However, many feel that the rear end of the playground of DAV Public School and a corner of the MDI fall within the 100 metres stretch if the measurement is done as per the internationally recognised standards.
Most vends in the city like
the one at MDI Chowk do business even during odd hours. In this case, the drunkards loafing on the road skirting Sector 17 has become a common sight. Women and children have stopped venturing out on the road in the evening. There have been reports of strangers getting into the adjoining park of Sector 14 even during the day in inebriated conditions. Also, parking of vehicles near the shop, considered to be one of the busy intersections of the city, endangers public peace, besides causing accidents.
Some other liquor shops are equally notorious. The one located at Rajiv Gandhi Chowk on the Delhi-Jaipur national highway is also located on government property. The one located on the Gurgaon-Mehrauli road near the electricity
headquarters has been rented to a mafia by a private firm. The shop is situated on a green belt. Here again the department moved the court, with no proper follow-up action. This site also falls in a public place and continues doing brisk business.
Sources say that during the last auctions for liquor shops in the state, the contract for each district was given to one person/firm or a consortium of firms. Most liquor contractors, sources say, close to the ruling
INLD.
