New Delhi: The Aquila restaurant in Delhi’s Ansal Plaza, which recently made headlines after a Twitter user alleged that she had been denied entry for wearing a saree, was shut down on Monday, September 27 after the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) sent it a closure notice, the Indian Express reported.

The closure notice, issued on September 24, makes no mention of the viral incident and claims that, during a visit by a public health inspector on September 21 it was found that the establishment was operating without a ‘health trade license’. It also noted that the conditions in the restaurant were unhygienic and even alleged that it was encroaching on public land.

In an SDMC house meeting, Abhishek Dutt, the Congress councillor from Andrews Ganj had proposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on any restaurant which denies entry to a person wearing traditional Indian attire. It was subsequently found out that the restaurant had been operating without the health trade license and thus a closure notice was sent, NDTV reported.

The health department notice stated that, upon a visit by a health inspector on September 24, it was observed that there had been no changes made to the working conditions of the establishment and thus it directed that the trade be closed within 48 hours of the notice being received.

Health trade licenses are issued by the municipal corporation and they permit the operation of business which deal with goods and services which directly impact the health of the general public. Restaurants fall under this category of businesses.

On September 19, a video went viral on social media in which a woman, later identified as Anita Choudhary, claimed she had been denied entry into Aquila restaurant because she was wearing a saree and was told that the saree did not conform with the “smart casual” dress code of the establishment.

Choudhary posted the video on social media which has since been viewed 783,000 times on Twitter alone.

The restaurant, however, alleged that the situation was being misrepresented. In a statement uploaded to Instagram, the restaurant said that Choudhary, when asked to wait while the staff found a place to seat her, entered the establishment and slapped the manager. In the fracas, the statement claims, one of the restaurant’s gate managers said that sarees were not part of the dress code in order to get Choudhary to leave.

The same Instagram post also features CCTV footage which the restaurant alleges shows Choudhary slapping the manager.

The incident had also caught the attention of the National Commission for Women which had also asked the Delhi police to probe the incident. It had written to the restaurant's director to appear before the commission on September 28 with an explanation.

Following the restaurant's closure, Choudhary Tweeted out "... the one who put a no entry board on the sari #aquilarestaurant closed" along with several newspaper snippets reporting the development.

However, the closure notice issued by the SDMC states that the restaurant was ordered to be closed because it lacked the requisite license for operation, operated under unhygienic conditions and was allegedly encroaching on public space. It made no mention of the incident or any dress code enforced by the establishment.

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