Even bar restaurants call ‘dry day’ as booze runs out in Delhi

Shops as well as bars are expected to reopen on Tuesday. While shops had cleared most of their stocks over the weekend, confusion persisted over their operations since their licenses expired on Sunday. In a handful of shops that were open, shelves remained mostly bare, though.

“I went to two liquor shops near my house in the afternoon. While one was shut, the other had half of the shutter down and its shelves were mostly bare. In any case, over the past few days only one or two brands of liquor were available. It is a complete mess,” said Raghav Singh, 34, a resident of Jangpura Extension. Liquor vends in areas such as Sarita Vihar, Connaught Place, Mayur Vihar remained shut.

In Connaught Place, restaurants that also sell liquor posted outside signs saying either “dry day” or that the bars were closed.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on July 30 that all private shops in the capital city would be shut and government liquor vends would be brought back. The policy, which came into force in November, had marked the exit of the government from the liquor business. While this policy was extended in March, the extension came to an end on July 31.
This also applies to restaurants, clubs and bars, since their licences also expired alongside retail liquor vends selling Indian-made foreign liquor.

Implementation challenges because of which licensees had started to exit the market, followed by allegations of corruption, had the Delhi government hot under the collar, forcing it to reinstate the previous policy for at least six months.

For now, all private vends in the city will shut and government vends will reopen starting September 1.

The government late on July 31 passed the order to extend the existing licences for a month, till August 31, for the transition to take effect. This awaits the lieutenant governor’s approval, said sources.

Meanwhile, a government notification issued late on Jul 31 said licences of country liquor shops (L-3/L-33 licences) would be extended for two months (August 1-September 30) on a pro rata basis.

On Monday, officials in his office said the lieutenant governor had granted permission to private licensees to continue selling liquor for another month, after receiving the government’s proposal.