What price peace? Bangalore Club drops probe against cop

BENGALURU: The Bangalore Club has taken a decision to drop its inquiry into the incident involving senior IPS officer RP Sharma in order to "restore peace and harmony". The Club, meanwhile, continues to function without serving liquor, following the suspension of its bar licence.

Sharma, who is ADGP (Railways), was involved in a tiff with the club's security guard on November 5, following which his civil service membership was suspended for a month on November 17. Sharma's suspension ended Wednesday. "To restore peace and harmony, we have decided to move on. We’re dropping the inquiry against him and he gets to use the club as a member," Club president Jayashankar PV told ET.

Sharma was not available for a comment.

Sharma's episode with the security guards over entry without a membership card, and through the Residency road gate, was followed by a chain of events, including a raid by the excise authorities.

The raid discovered a violation of its CL-4 licence ( liquor licence for Clubs) conditions, leading to – on December 2 – a one-month ban on serving liquor. "The Club is functioning normally, but without liquor. It hasn’t gone down very well with our members, but there is little we can do about it," Jayashankar said.

The Club submitted all the necessary documents and clarifications to Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner V Shankar, the excise licensing authority. "He has to take a call now. We are confident we'll get it back. We have also requested the authorities to compound our offences by paying fines," he said.

The security guard who was at the receiving end of the IPS officer’s ire, Ashik Uddin Lasker, is no longer working in the Club. But is the Club's management going to stand by him? "Now that we are trying to restore peace and harmony, I don’t think it is appropriate to comment on this," the president said.

Out of 73 clubs holding CL-4 licences in Bengaluru, excise sleuths have booked cases against 21 for various violations, including serving liquor through multiple counters, advertising liquor brands and non-maintenance of accounts.

Only Bangalore Club's liquor licence was suspended.