A year after anti-nightlife crusader ACP Vasant Dhoble was transferred out of the Social Service Branch, INN Live goes on the prowl at night, only to find discos and eateries violating deadlines, hookah and dance bars flourishing, and rules going out the window.
It’s been a year and a month since Vasant Dhoble -- looselydescribed by the pro-party kinds as The Bad Cop out to kill Mumbai’s nightlife, and by the conventional-types as The Good Cop out to reclaim Mumbai’s morality -- was shunted out of the Social Service branch to the police control room.
And the vacuum he left behind is now brimming with the buzz of loud music, happy feet and late nights -- in merry breach of the laws he strove hard to enforce, or force on the public.
End of reign
Dhoble, who served as assistant commissioner of police of the Social Service branch of Mumbai police from March 14, 2011 to September 17, 2012, was feared by hawkers, party-goers, bar dancers, drunk drivers and the management of late-night joints in the same measure. With a string of raids, he had clamped down on late-night establishments staying open after the deadline laid down by a colonial-era law.
His hockey-wielding and public-shaming antics forced several brothels, bars, and clubs, flouting a spectrum of rules relating to permits and closing time, to bring their shutters down. His penchant for the law, even its impractical aspects, made him a talking point on everything from blogs and news channels to national dailies.
But empirical data on the number of raids by Dhoble compared to the ones subsequently conducted by the police reveal how the laws regulating these joints are restricted to paper. “The rest of the police force has not even matched 50 per cent of Dhoble sahab’s performance. Dance bars and hookah bars are still operating and discos never keep the deadlines. What is the point of decreeing such a ban?” said a south Mumbai resident Ashraf Khan, who received this information through an RTI query filed earlier this month.
Moreover, all efforts of the home department helmed by RR Patil to issue a fresh ordinance reimposing a blanket ban on dance bars will go in vain unless the local police implement the existing rules.
Dance Bars
Rule says: Not more than four girls are allowed on the floor including the singer. Showering money on the dancers is completely banned. Bars should shut by 12.30 am, and smoking is strictly prohibited inside the premises.
- Harmony bar Nagar, Chembur: Money kept raining on the dancers. Not a single rule was followed, as customers were smoking in the premises and business went on well past the deadline.
- Laxmi Pumjab (LP) bar and Restaurant, Chakala, Andheri (E): Around 8-10 girls were seen dancing and the customers showered them with money. The bar remained open till early morning hours.
- Carnival bar & Restaurant, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli: Dancers entertained the patrons and were showered with currency notes. Post-midnight, there was panic in the bar when a policeman dropped in. All the girls were asked to leave the floor, and in no time, cigarette packs were cleared from customers’ table. As soon as the cop left, things went back tothe way they were
Hookah Parlours
- STYX Yari Road, Andheri (W): The place operated as a hookah bar as well as a snooker and pool parlour. Hookah was available in many flavours
- Discotheques and pubs: None of the establishments followed the 1.30 am deadline. At some pubs, the billing machine was tampered with to ensure that the time on the bills was printed within the deadline.
1 comment:
This is all the modern civilization. Mumbai is called the city of lighting. Of course its true. But the reasons behind it is not accepted by the normal person. They all get rid of it. Police can't do anything. They are all connected and that's the reason that no one follow such rules.
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