Nov 15: Strict checking of the legal age proof for consumers at bars, pubs, liquor vends and restaurants is a State responsibility which Delhi and the neighbouring Haryana have shirked; it’s a pity the proposed directive had to come from judiciary yesterday but this ought to give AAP government an opportunity to reflect and reconsider reducing the legal age of 25 to the more realistic 21 years followed by enforcing a rigorous policy of checking the IDs and prosecuting those found drunk while driving, writes Subhash Arora
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar termed under-age consumption of alcohol a serious issue and said the Delhi government needs to examine the matter and asked the AAP government to evolve a policy to check the age proof of consumers at bars, pubs, liquor vends and food and beverage outlets selling alcohol.
“Issue deserves to be examined by Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. They need to form a policy on it,” the bench said, according to PTI and media reports. It asked the Delhi Government’s excise department to take formal view with regard to necessary amendments within three months and inform the petitioner NGO Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD).
It disposed of CADD’s plea seeking to mandate all alcohol vendors and F & B outlets to mandatorily check the identity cards and conduct age verification. It said portable age verifiers may be placed at all government liquor vends, private liquor vends and petrol pumps, markets, malls, bars and pubs. The plea said the verifier can verify age by feeding in the last four digits of the Aadhaar number. Election I-card and a valid passport for foreign nationals may also be used to verify age at points of sale.
A survey was conducted by CADD in June-August on underage drinking in Delhi and to assess the implementation of the Delhi excise law and implementation of law against sale of alcohol to those under the age of 25 years and whether the age of buyers is checked. The survey conducted on 6000 people at 50 spots revealed that even the government liquor vends hardly cared to ask for age proof from any buyer.
According to the Report in Live Law, underage drinking has been rising at 28% annually. 20% people in AIIMS de-addiction centre are below 25 years. Over 42.% of boys in the age group 18-25 years had their first drink before 18 years. Nearly 90% of this age group freely procured alcohol from bars, pubs, liquor vends with the excise department and the Delhi Police completely turned a blind eye to this anomaly, resulting in excessive alcohol consumption among youth.
DelWine Viewpoint
Many years ago, I had gone to a alcohol serving casino in Niagara Falls with my son who was 19 then. As we were about to enter we were asked our ID’s including me; everyone’s ID was checked diligently. The bouncer/doorman won’t allow my son to enter without the ID proof despite my telling him that he was my son and an adult and didn’t drink anyway. He said he will lose his job and the casino might lose the license without the ID proof, so no way Jose! My son had to wait outside.
An Italian friend told me once of an instance where he took his teenage son for wine tasting in Napa Valley where they won’t pour wine for his son who has an occasional glass with the family without dinner. Despite his pleas they did not allow him without the ID proof. Rules are so strict the winery could lose the tasting license if they made an exception.
A professor in enology at UC Davies, who is a fellow judge in wine competitions, tells me that many students are underage but she had to give an undertaking that she would allow the privilege of tasting since it was a compulsory subject but would be personally responsible if the amount exceeded the tasting proportion. The laws are so strict and the people are so compliant that she has never had any problem with the students or the law.
The problem in India is that people don’t have respect for law, at times also because they are irrational. We have to learnt to be law compliant but that can happen only with strict and fair vigilance, like the strict check of ID’s (although I can share that many under age students abroad always carry a fake ID at the risk of being caught and suffer bigger punishment). But the legal drinking age is 18, same as for voting.
The issue has been discussed and argued to death. Suffice it to say that with the current system, no law is going to work unless there is strict compliance which can be much more pragmatic if the legal age is lowered to 21 years (preferably 18 for restaurants and shops selling beer and wine).
The State will have to give an undertaking to the High Court that the vigilance would be carried out strictly (the issue of police being under the Lt. Governor and not the State government is another hairy issue that the court may have to resolve for the safety of the consumers). It will be logical and more easily manageable if the legal drinking age is lowered to 21. There may be hue and cry from the anti-alcohol lobby, and rightly so as the laws are not strictly followed, but a strict compliance with a lowered age of 21 and the threat to cancel the license for someone found selling to underage youth by flying squads, would offer a more practical solution.
There is nothing better than teaching the ills of alcohol and the effect on health at the school level. Sharing half a glass of wine with food at the dinner table, like one sees in Italy of France would put the youth on the right path- to an extent. Drinking hard alcohol is a malaise and the High Court is very correct in seeking to serving or selling to the underage but lowering the age is the prerogative of the Delhi government. It can win the confidence of the youth (their big vote bank also) by lowering the voting age and the confidence of the public at large by rigorously following up on drunken driving for all ages.
For earlier related articles please visit
Guide to Drinking Age for Wine and Liquor Laws in India
Blog: Target Lowering Age to 21 for Liquor 18 for Wine
Subhash Arora
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