5-star disco penalised for serving liquor after 1 AM

A penalty of Rs 20 lakh was today imposed by the Excise and Taxation department on the discotheque being run by a five star hotel here for allegedly violating rules and serving liquor beyond permissible time.
The violation was unearther after a team of excise and taxation officers along with police personnel conducted a raid at the discotheque premises on the intervening night of August 22 and 23 at around 1:30 AM, the Chandigarh Excise and Taxation department said.
The raiding team found liquor being served beyond the permissible time limit of 1 AM, an official release said here.
The bar was found to be fully functional and the guests were consuming liquor in violations of the Excise policy, department's Additional Excise and Taxation Commissioner Kashish Mittal said in the release.

The team had also found invoices generated after permissible timing of 1 AM towards the sale of liquor. All such invoices were taken into possession by the raiding officers, it said.
Taking cognisance of the documents impounded and the violations found at the premises during the inspection, a penalty amounting to Rs 20 lakh was levied under the Excise Act, failing which, the license of the discotheque at the five-star hotel shall remain suspended, the release said.