Press Club goes dry, again

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 26

With the UT Excise and Taxation Department deciding to measure the distance of hotels and clubs from national and state highways on the basis of the aerial route, the Chandigarh Press Club once again went dry today. After the Supreme Court order, it had recently been allowed to sell and serve liquor.

The club was allowed to serve liquor after the measurement done by officers of the Excise Department a few days ago found it 507 metres away from Madhya Marg, declared a state highway by the Administration.

The club had stopped serving liquor soon after the SC order prohibiting the sale of liquor within 500 metres of state and national highways. Later, the club management had requested the department to measure the distance.

The department then carried out the measurement and found the motorable distance 507 metres away from Madhya Marg. The club started serving liquor after the measurement.

However, sources said now the Excise and Taxation Department had changed the guidelines of the measurement.

Club president Jaswant Rana said in line with the instructions of the department, they had stopped serving liquor. Rana said a delegation of the club management would soon meet the  UT Administrator in this regard and would also take  legal recourse if the need arose. He said only members were allowed  in the  club  and  no one was allowed to  take  away liquor  from the  club. 

The  club had over 1,100  members.   Sources said the new guidelines would also  affect  some hotels   which had earlier been allowed to serve liquor on the  basis  of the motorable  distance.