SC notice to Centre on plea for robust policy for age check at liquor sale points

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Centre on a petition seeking direction for an effective protocol and robust policy for the enforcement of mandatory age checks at liquor sales points.

The plea said that the excise policy of different states has age legislation making it illegal to consume or possess alcohol below a certain age but a robust mechanism to check the age of consumers or buyers at alcohol points of sale or consumption is absent.

The petition, which also opposed doorstep delivery of liquor service contending it would hasten the formation of the habit of alcohol consumption among underage persons, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan.

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The counsel appearing for petitioner NGO ‘Community Against Drunken Driving’ argued that there was no regime in place to check the age of consumers or buyers at liquor vends, bars, pubs, etc. It said a robust policy in this regard would help in reducing and preventing the menace of drunken driving and also in curbing underage consumption of alcohol.

The petitioner has suggested that any person selling, serving or providing alcohol to minors should be fined Rs 50,000 or three months in jail or both.

The plea has arrayed the Centre, all states and Union Territories as party respondents.

“The petitioner understands that many of the respondents herein are considering proposals to allow doorstep delivery of alcohol. If doorstep delivery is allowed it would facilitate easy access to alcohol for young people and will hasten the formation of the habit of alcohol consumption among underage persons,” the plea, filed through advocate Vipin Nair, said.

The bench said it would issue notice to the Centre seeking its response to the plea.

“Issue notice, restricted to respondent number one (Union of India),” the bench said and posted the matter for hearing after three weeks.

The plea has sought a direction for formulating and implementing a policy for mandatory age checks at all outlets serving liquor.

It has said all outlets serving alcohol be directed to verify, check and maintain a record of those to whom liquor was served.

The plea has sought a direction “to establish an effective protocol and mechanism for the enforcement of mandatory age check of underage drinking at alcohol sales points namely liquor shops, pubs, bars, restaurants etc via biometrics age match using government issued identity card”.

It said data collected by the petitioner in 2017 revealed that there was a rise of 20 per cent in accidents caused by drunken driving.

“As per research and statistics collected by the petitioner organisation, drunken driving is the cause for more than 70 per cent of road accidents, resulting in more than 1,00,000 road deaths annually across India,” the petition said.

The plea, which referred to a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO), said alcohol consumption has been steadily increasing in India.

It said WHO’s study revealed that it increased by 38 per cent between 2010 to 2017 from about 2.4 litres per adult to about 5.8 litres per adult.

The plea said as per data collected from several de-addiction centres pan India, one out of every five patients is aged between 16 and 19 years.

“The effects of underage drinking include drunken driving, aggressive behaviour, brawls, property damage, injuries, violence, and even death,” it said.

The plea has also referred to policies in place in different countries for checking underage drinking and its legal consequences.