One-day ‘venue-specific’ club licence a must: Excise officials

MUMBAI: A row erupted after state excise officials halted a techno music concert by German DJ Stella Bossi at AntiSocial club in Lower Parel on Friday night owing to inadequate permissions. However spectators mistook them for police officials on account of their khaki uniform, and heaped criticism on Mumbai Police online.

Stella Bossi is a popular DJ with sold out shows apart from a 1.1 million strong following on Instagram. She was performing at the Steelworks Festival, also featuring Junkie Kids and Lee Ann Roberts.

She posted a video on Instagram, showing an officer in khaki uniform stepping on stage, and slicing his hand horizontally in the air, gesturing her to stop. Angry spectators booed the officer as he left the venue.

Bossi captioned the post, “POV. You’re 50 minutes into your set in Mumbai and the police finally found the OFF button. Sorry guys we tried everything. Coming back soon.”

An outcry erupted online, with techno fans, a columnist and netizens mistaking the uniformed officer to be a Mumbai police personnel. One Instagram user mocked how “licenced indoor shows are cancelled while loud music is openly allowed on street festivals”.

However, a senior police officer clarified, “No one from the police dept visited the site (AntiSocial).” Sources said the khaki personnel in the viral video were from excise.

The excise department, which halted the concert, informed TOI that a “liquor licence is no licence to throw a party”. It says it took action after finding that the organisers, who had been denied permission to hold the event at the Cruise Terminal in Ballard Estate, had shifted the venue but failed to obtain the mandatory one-day club licence for the new location.

The event was moved to permit room AntiSocial in Lower Parel, where liquor can be served under the establishment’s existing licence. However, excise officials said this did not authorise the premises to host a large ticketed party.

A senior officer said a one-day club licence is required for such events because the authorities assess the available floor area against the number of tickets or expected participants, besides checking emergency exits, fire-safety arrangements and other safety requirements.

“We got to know about the change and that they did not have a one-day club licence meant for area safety specifications, emergency exits, fire safety and other safety permissions required for a party. Acting on a tip-off from the police, we went to the packed permit room around 8.00 pm while the party was on and stopped it,” said excise superintendent Sudhir Pokale.

Officials said they reached the venue three hours after the programme began, not 50 minutes as the viral post claimed.

The episode highlights an important distinction for party-goers: a venue licensed to serve alcohol may not necessarily be licensed to host a big party. The one-day club licence is meant to ensure that the premises can safely accommodate the number of people admitted to the event and has appropriate arrangements to deal with an emergency.

The organisers’ decision to shift the party after permission was denied at the Cruise Terminal also brought the issue of venue-specific safety clearances into focus. Officials said the required checks relate to the particular premises and the proposed crowd size, rather than merely whether liquor can legally be served there.

For party-goers, the incident underscores the safety risks of last-minute venue changes. A change of venue can alter the premises’ capacity, emergency-exit arrangements and fire-safety preparedness, making it important to have permissions for that venue.

According to the excise department, only under such one-day club or party licenses, liquor is allowed to be served to such a large quorum of participants. Such service is not allowed in a normal permit room area where only patrons are allowed to be seated for liquor consumption.

(Inputs by Bella Jaisinghani)