Noida: A liquor shop located below the juvenile justice board office and observation home in Phase 2 continues to operate three months after the board asked the district administration to close or relocate it.Around 1pm on Monday, the shutters of Jhonnies House were open, with bottles displayed on the shelves and three men sitting at the counter.After an inspection by board member Arun Kumar Gupta on July 3, it had written to the district magistrate three days later to take “immediate” action and close or shift the shop. The board pointed out concerns over the impact of the outlet on children and the safety and dignity of the institution.The letter, signed by JJB principal magistrate Abhishek Kumar-IV, cited sub-rule (10) of Rule 56 of Juvenile Justice Model Rules, 2016, which states the sale of intoxicating liquor, narcotic substances, psychotropic substances or tobacco products within 200 metres of a child-care institution or the office of a committee or board is deemed an offence under Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.The board also cited Rule 5(4) of the Uttar Pradesh Number and Location of Excise Shops Rules, 1968, which provides that no new liquor shop should be licensed in proximity to places such as schools, hospitals, places of public resort, places of worship, factories, bazaars or residential colonies, and that objections from affected persons should receive due consideration.Stationery shop owner Dinesh Kumar Yadav said the liquor outlet opens around 10am and remains busy till midnight but residents had repeatedly objected to it. “We have objected so many times. Even the officials sitting on the first floor have raised objections, but nothing has changed since then.”A JJB official said repeated requests had been made because children living at the observation home are being exposed to an environment that is inappropriate for a child-care institution. “We have children who are at an impressionable age living here and there have been incidents of drunk men throwing glass bottles on the roof of the home,” he said. “It is such a sensitive area. What impression are we giving? It is a model shop as well. People sit and drink here till late at night.”District excise officer Subodh Kumar said the department was in the process of relocating the outlet. “We will shift it within a month. We are in the process and it will get shifted in a month,” he said.An official said the shop has operated at the location for about 15 years, predating the institution’s establishment. The area was a commercial zone when the liquor outlet opened, he added.
