Bangalore : The State government would convene a meeting of bar and restaurant owners to formulate guidelines on employing women in these establishments, the High Court was told on Monday.

The Bangalore Ladies Working Bar and Restaurant Owners’ Association had moved the High Court seeking intervention to ensure smooth functioning of the bars. It alleged that the City police were interfering in their day-to-day business by forcibly closing the bars on the pretext of law and order.

The petitioner contended that the police could not shut down the establishments in question and such an intervention would be “unjust, arbitrary and illegal” as their businesses were licensed. Not a single case was registered against any bar or restaurant, hence police interference should be stopped, the petitioner submitted.
Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar submitted that the government would streamline the activities after convening a meeting of bar and restaurant owners. “We will also invite their suggestions,” he told the court, following which Justice Mohan Shantanagowdar adjourned the matter.

The High Court has ordered issue of notice to the State government in a petition seeking to quash the notification dated February 2, 2013, superseding the Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF).

The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice B V Nagarathna, issued the directive after hearing a petition filed by Pramod H, a social worker.

The government has to file an affidavit on the next date of hearing. The petitioner submitted that government had acted mala fide by issuing the notification on BMTF’s supersedure. It was aimed at protecting officers involved in land scam, he claimed.

Pramod also stated that the BMTF had been constituted with an aim to protect government land from encroachers. The notification in question followed allegations of land grab against former ministers, he said nd sought directions to set aside the notification.- DHNS