New Delhi, The Delhi Excessive Courtroom has stayed an order of the excise division asking ‘Hauz Khas Social’, a well-liked eatery within the metropolis, to cease serving liquor within the absence of a sound consuming home licence.
Delhi HC stays excise dept’s order to eatery to cease serving liquor on account of invalid licence
The excessive courtroom, which was knowledgeable that the restaurant’s consuming home licence was legitimate until March 31, 2024, and it has been pursuing for the renewal ever since, mentioned that as per regulation, the registration already granted to the eatery shall enure until the renewal certificates is issued or until an intimation of refusal is issued by the licensing unit of Delhi Police.
“Considering that under… of the Delhi Eating House Registration Regulations, 2023, the registration already granted to the petitioner shall enure, till the renewal certificate is issued or till an intimation of refusal is issued by the respondent No. 2 , the direction contained in the show-cause notice-cum-order of April 8, 2024, requiring the petitioner to ‘cease the operation of service of liquor’, is ex-facie misconceived,” Justice Sachin Datta mentioned within the order dated April 9.
The petitioner, Epiphany Hospitality Pvt Ltd, which operates the restaurant-cum-bar below the identify ‘M/s Social and Tinur’, also referred to as ‘Hauz Khas Social’, at Hauz Khas village right here, approached the courtroom aggrieved by the sudden disruption of its operations on April 3, 2025, as a result of pending renewal of its consuming home licence.
The eatery authorities have been requested to placed on maintain the sale of liquor on account of no legitimate consuming home licence with it.
The plea mentioned the petitioner has a sound licence for serving Indian and international liquor, which has been prolonged until June this 12 months.
The counsel for Delhi authorities’s excise division denied that any seizure of liquor has been accomplished by it, and submitted that it has solely issued instructions that sale of liquor be discontinued until additional instructions from the division.
The licensing unit of Delhi Police submitted that it was seized of the petitioner’s software for renewal of its consuming home registration/licence and that the processing has been held up just for need of “area suitability report” from the unit involved.
The courtroom in its order mentioned as per the rules, the petitioner’s premises shall be deemed to be duly registered, till its registration certificates is duly renewed and delivered or until an intimation is shipped by the police that renewal has been refused.
“The respondent No. 2 is directed to process the petitioner’s application for renewal of registration/licence under the Delhi Eating House Registration Regulations, 2023, and take a decision thereon , as expeditiously as possible, and preferably within a period of two weeks,” it mentioned.
The courtroom mentioned the course within the excise division’s show-cause discover, that the petitioner shall stop operation of service of liquor from its restaurant, is stayed until adjudication of the discover.
It requested the eatery to reply inside time to the show-cause discover, saying the authorities ought to take note of the provisions of the regulation whereas contemplating the renewal software.