Police permit nightlife till 1 a.m. in Bangalore

It's three cheers to thousands of Bangaloreans who can soon party till 1 a.m. throughout the week, thanks to the police permitting bars and restaurants to serve liquor and food past midnight for a year.

"We have no objection if the state government permits nightlife in Bangalore by allowing bars and pubs to serve liquor till 1 a.m. all days of the week," Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar told reporters here late Tuesday.

Bars, pubs and restaurants, however, have to individually obtain permission from the state excise department to remain open till 1 a.m. and to serve liquor to customers.

Though the state government permitted bars and pubs to remain open till 1 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays since March 3 to entertain customers past midnight on a trial basis, the three-month deadline was not extended after June 2.

Hotels and eateries, however, have been allowed to continue to keep open till 1 a.m. throughout the week since March 3 instead of shutting down at 11.30 p.m. earlier.

"As we have not seen an increase in crime rate during weekends when bars and pubs were allowed to remain open till 1 a.m. over the last thee months, we hope extending the nightlife throughout the week will not cause any law and order problem to citizens in the city," Auradkar said.

The excise department will issue permits to bars and pubs extending the closure deadline to 1 a.m. after its commissioner notifies the change through an order this week.