Delhi High Court Provides Relief To Hauz Khas Social, Directs Excise Dept To Allow Liquor Service Till Decision On Eatery's License Renewal

The Delhi High Court has granted relief to the city's famous restaurant outlet Hauz Khas Social against the Excise Department's direction to put on hold the sale of liquor, citing the absence of an “Eating House License”.Justice Sachin Datta noted that the license has been granted to the restaurant-cum-bar since the year 1994 and merely because there was a delay at the authority's end in renewing it, would not play against the interests of the restaurant. The bench observed, “On a specific query, it is submitted by the learned counsel for the respondent no.2, that the renewal of the Eating House Registration/ License of the petitioner is held up only for want of an area suitability report…The furnishing thereof is not in the hands of the petitioner. In case there is any delay on account of the same, the responsibility and consequences thereof cannot be fastened upon the petitioner.”Significant to note that the restaurant holds L-17 and L-17F license for “Service of Indian Liquor and Foreign Liquor in independent restaurants”. An inspection by the Delhi Fire Service also satisfied that the restaurant premises are compliant with all applicable fire prevention and safety norms.The Petitioner, Epiphany Hospitality Pvt Ltd, which operates the restaurant, was thus aggrieved by the “sudden disruption” of its operations due to the pending renewal of its Eating House License.The Department argued that the Petitioner's restaurant was illegally serving alcohol within 100 meters of a government school and village temples. It was claimed that such actions violate the provisions of the Delhi Eating House Regulations, 2023.It was further submitted that the processing of the petitioner's application for renewal has been held up for want of 'area suitability report' from the concerned unit / officials of the Delhi Police.At the outset, the High Court cited para 6(ii) of the the Delhi Eating House, Registration Regulations, 2023 which stipulates that when an application for renewal of the Eating House Registration Certificate is duly submitted, then in such an eventuality, “the premises in respect of which the Registration Certificate is to be renewed, shall be deemed to be duly registered until such registration certificate is renewed and delivered to the applicant online, or till an intimation that the renewal of the registration certificate has been refused, is communicated to such person”.Noting that in Petitioner's case, the application for renewal was not rejected or declined, the Court said, “unless and until the petitioner's renewal application is declined, the petitioner's operations cannot be precluded for want of an Eating House Registration Certificate/license.”It thus directed that the Petitioner's premises shall be deemed to be duly registered until its registration certificate is duly renewed and delivered or till an intimation refusing renewal is sent.Meanwhile, the Court directed the Delhi Police to decide the petitioner's application for renewal within two weeks.Appearance: Ms. Shyel Trehan (Sr. Adv) along with Mr. Raghav Anand, Mr. Shubham Kathuria, Ms. Vidhi Jain, Mr. Suhail Ahmed, Advs for Petitioner; Mr. Satender Sangwan (ACP) along with Mr. Mukesh Rana (Inspector) and Mr. M. Singh (SI) for Delhi Police for RespondentsCase title: Epiphany Hospitality Pvt Ltd v. The Commissioner Excise Entertainment And Luxury Tax Department Govt Of Nct Of Delhi & Anr.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 443Case no.: W.P.(C) 4518/2025 Click here to read order

Delhi High Court Provides Relief To Hauz Khas Social, Directs Excise Dept To Allow Liquor Service Till Decision On Eatery's License Renewal

Kapil Dhyani

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