No liquor: Event organisers in a fix

Mangaluru: The latest guidelines from the Election Commission of India (ECI) has put a lot of people, who have scheduled functions where liquor was to be served, in a fix. The ECI has directed the excise department on Tuesday not to issue a CL-5 or occasional licence to anyone till the end of the elections.
On an average, the excise department in Dakshina Kannada issues about 10–15 CL-5 licenses and the number goes up during the season.

"Anyone who brings out new rules should be aware that weddings or any auspicious functions, especially in Dakshina Kannada, get fixed at least a year in advance. There is a year-long preparation that goes into it. A sudden change of rules will throw a spanner in the works. The functions here are incomplete without serving liquor, especially the roce and mehendi ceremonies, weddings, and other functions. Not issuing licences has worried a lot of people, and some of them even plan to cancel the functions," expressed a stakeholder who is engaged in serving liquor at functions.
A soon-to-be groom, who has scheduled his roce and wedding this week shared that they had gone to take the CL-5 permission after submitting all documents. "Suddenly, we received a call from the excise department that the license could not be processed further as there is an order from ECI not to issue it.We're now unsure whether we'll be able to serve alcohol or not," the groom told TOI.
Sources from the excise department said that those who had applied for the CL-5 licence was asked on Wednesday to withdraw their applications.
"A gathering of 1,500 people has been cancelled since there is no permission to serve liquor," said a caterer.
When contacted, excise department commissioner J Ravishankar said that the issuance of CL-5 license has been temporarily stopped following the instructions by senior deputy election commissioner, Election Commission of India at Tuesday’s meeting.