MR. HERBERT ROBERTS (Denbighshire, W.)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for India whether he is aware that the Indian Excise Committee, 1905–6 recommended that liquor shops should be closed at 9 p.m. or earlier; whether the Government of India adopted this recommendation and issued orders accordingly whether the Excise Commissioner in Bombay has fixed 9.30 as the hour of closing, and that in certain cases shops will remain open until midnight; and whether he can state what are the special reasons for this departure from the general policy approved by the Government of India.
(Answered by Mr. Buchanan.) The recommendation of the Committee was 1690 that as a general rule the closing hour should be fixed at 9 p.m., but that this limit might be relaxed in special cases, when a special fee should be levied. The Government of India accepted this recommendation, and issued orders accordingly. As to the action taken in Bombay, the Secretary of State has no information, but he will inquire.