BENGALURU: While demonetization has impacted various sectors in different ways, it is pub owners of Bengaluru who are feeling the heat.In an apparently desperate move to ramp up revenue, the excise department is set to bring in an old but repealed rule, that penalizes pubs for short-selling hard liquor. Rule 14(2) of the Karnataka Excise Act, 1965, mandates that a bar owner sells a minimum of 468 bulk litres of hard liquor a month, failing which the pub owner has to cough up Rs 100 as penalty for each short-sale litre. The state government had in August 2014 repealed the rule that was in place since 2003, saying it was unfair to implement such a law.However, excise officials are now visiting pubs across the city, reminding owners of notices issued in the past to collect penalty for short-selling Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) for the period between February 2003 and July 2014. While the penalty amount runs into lakhs of rupees, pub owners are even more distressed as they complain that excise officials are pressuring them to push up liquor sales.“It's shocking that the excise department is insisting on more liquor consumption in Bengaluru at a time when the city is hitting headlines for incidents of molestation.And to collect penalty under an abolished rule just to make up losses due to demonetization is questionable,“ said K V Dhananjaya, a Supreme Court lawyer who appeared for 31 pub owners in a case related to Rule 14(2).HARASSED BY RULE 14(2)Honnagiri Gowda, president of Bar Owners' Association, said the ghost of Rule 14(2) had return to haunt, and pub owners were harassed by it.For instance, the excise department slapped a notice on a pub on Marathahalli Ring Road for short-selling IMFL, and insisting on lifting more stock in the coming months. According to the notice (a copy of which is in possession of TOI), the pub owner had to sell 34,164 bulk litres of hard liquor between 2008 and 2014, but he sold 11,010 bulk litres. Now he has to pay Rs 23,15,400 as penalty.Excise officials are seeking Rs 11,39,800 as penalty from a pub in Koramangala for short-selling liquor in the period between 2011 and 2014. The pub was supposed to sell 13,104 litres of hard liquor, but managed to sell only 1,706 litres.Over 70% of pub owners of around 1,000 pubs in Bruhat Benagluru Mahanagara Palike limits have complained about excise officials paying a visit.IS DEPT PUSHING LIQUOR SALES?Justifying the move, excise commissioner Manjunath Naik said his department was following the procedure to collect the pending penalty.“We are only asking pub owners to pay whatever penalty they have to pay to the government. Rule 14(2) was in place till August 2014 and we are enforcing it for that period, which is applicable,“ said Naik.On complaints about excise officials pressuring the pub owners to lift more stock, Naik said it was routine and had nothing to do with demonetization.“It is the duty of the excise officials to check lifting performance of bars and if there is a fall, they have to investigate,“ he added.The overdrive, however, has raised hackles since the excise department is among the few wings not affected by demonetization. While the government has given Rs 16,510 crore as annual target for 2016-17, the excise department has exceeded expectations. According to official records, the excise department earned Rs 1,350 crore in November 2016 and Rs 1,365 crore in December 2016 against an average monthly target of Rs 1,400 crore.A source said the excise department was on a selling spree since the government was looking to make up revenue losses caused in the other wings, including commercial tax, stamps and registration and motor vehicles tax by ramping up revenue collection through liquor sales.Bringing this to the notice of chief minister Siddaramaiah, Dhananjay has written to him, highlighting the sensitivity of the issue in view of recent incidents of molestation. The chief minister, in his reply, said he would look into the issue and promised to call a meeting with excise officials.