MHA asks all discotheques to shut down by 1 am, Sushil kumar Shinde says 'unaware' on this matter

NEW DELHI: To 'tighten' security after the gang-rape incident, the home ministry on Wednesday said it has ordered all discotheques in the Capital to stop playing music by 12:30 am and shut down by 1 am.

ET had reported on December 21 that government planned to take such a step, with home secretary RK Singh then telling that the government wanted discotheques to close at 1 am to ensure that they stop serving liquor after that time. Singh then said that the liquor licence of the said discotheque or bar would be revoked if they did not close down by 1 am.

At a meeting of the newly-constituted special task force - chaired by Singh on January 3 - to look into the safety of women in Delhi, it was ordered that the discotheques must close by 1 am and, in fact, it should stop playing music by 12:30 am. "All standalone discotheques and all 5-Star discotheques must close down the music by 12.30 am and completely close down by 1.00 am," the home ministry said in a statement.

Surprisingly, when ET asked home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde about the logic of such a decision, he claimed ignorance of the matter. "This is not in my domain...I am not aware," he said.

This order could be a boon for discotheques in Gurgaon and NOIDA that are open till early hours.

Actor Arjun Rampal, owner of prominent discotheque and nightclub, LAP, operating from the Samrat Hotel, said business would be badly hit. "If the government feels that at this time they need to do this to manage crime, we will cooperate. But I don't think clamping down any place will make any difference. We are responsible people. This will definitely hit our business badly and if this goes on, no night club in the city will be able to sustain and will have to shut shop."

LAP usually shuts by 2:30-3:00 am, with business kicking in after midnight. Saeed Shervani, executive member of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India, also criticised the move. "It is a knee-jerk reaction. It should not be a blanket ban. On weekends, they should at least be given time till 3 pm if they provide good security," he said.

Why Not Police Commissioner: HC

The Delhi HC, meanwhile, pulled up the Delhi Police, asking why the Police Commissioner has not been made accountable for the gang-rape incident. "Why only ACP, why not DCP, why not the Commissioner have been put to task?" a bench headed by Chief Justice D Murugesan said when informed that only an assistant commissioner of police had been suspended after the incident. Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, who earlier demanded the resignation of Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar, criticised the use of water cannons on protestors.