Mumbai: Mumbaikars can now party harder on New Year's eve with the Bombay High Court striking down the city police's diktat for closure of eateries, bars and restaurants at 1.30 AM and extending it till 5 AM, dubbing the order as "illogical".
Mumbai Police had issued the directive imposing the deadline citing security concerns, including terror attacks, and safety of women during the revelry.
"Threat perception to the city will be there all the time. Not just on December 31," Justice Gautam Patel observed while hearing a petition of Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association (AHAR) challenging the city police's fiat that overruled a Home Department relaxation of the deadline till 5 AM.
The judge's observation was in response to Public Prosecutor D A Nalavade's argument about threat from terrorist organisations. The lawyer cited a recent report that Indian Mujahideen terrorist Yasin Bhatkal was planning nuclear bomb attacks and escape of seven alleged terrorists from a jail in Madhya Pradesh.
