HC asks Delhi govt to respond to plea for age verification mechanism at liquor shops bars
New Delhi Aug 24 PTI The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought response of the Delhi government on a plea to put in place a robust mechanism for mandatory age check at liquor shops bars and restaurants serving alcohol with government identity cardsThe plea also sought to restrain the Delhi government from giving effect to the new Excise Policy 2021-22 which reduced the age of consuming alcohol from 25 to 21 years until a robust age verification mechanism is put in placeA bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Delhi government which sought to respond to the plea and listed the matter for further hearing on September 17The plea filed by an organisation Community Against Drunken Driving through activist Prince Singhal sought mandatory age check at places selling and serving alcohol including bars pubs liquor vends and any food and beverage outletSenior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Rahul Mehra representing the Delhi government contended that this was an attempt to stall the policy under one pretext or the otherThe petitioner claimed that the PIL was filed after the Delhi government failed to take action on the previous petition filed by him in 2017 where the court had directed the state to form a policy on age checking at alcohol points of saleSince the Delhi government introduced the new excise policy and liberalised the alcohol policy bringing down the legal drinking age and increasing alcohol availability making the alcohol policy almost at par with countries in the west it has become even more pertinent to strictly monitor age of consumer as is done in the western nations he saidThe plea said the age verification mechanism shall be done with the help of matching it with government issued identity cards like Aadhaar and voter cardIt also sought that the Delhi government be restrained from giving effect to the recent amendment made in the Excise Rules which permit the door step delivery of liquor until a robust age verification mechanism is instituted even for door delivery PTI SKV SKV RKS RKS
New Delhi Aug 24 PTI The Delhi High Court Wednesday sought response of the Delhi government on a plea to put in place a robust mechanism for mandatory age check at liquor shops bars and restaurants serving alcohol with government identity cardsThe plea also sought to restrain the Delhi government from giving effect to the new Excise Policy 2021-22 which reduced the age of consuming alcohol from 25 to 21 years until a robust age verification mechanism is put in placeA bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the Delhi government which sought to respond to the plea and listed the matter for further hearing on September 17The plea filed by an organisation Community Against Drunken Driving through activist Prince Singhal sought mandatory age check at places selling and serving alcohol including bars pubs liquor vends and any food and beverage outletSenior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Rahul Mehra representing the Delhi government contended that this was an attempt to stall the policy under one pretext or the otherThe petitioner claimed that the PIL was filed after the Delhi government failed to take action on the previous petition filed by him in 2017 where the court had directed the state to form a policy on age checking at alcohol points of saleSince the Delhi government introduced the new excise policy and liberalised the alcohol policy bringing down the legal drinking age and increasing alcohol availability making the alcohol policy almost at par with countries in the west it has become even more pertinent to strictly monitor age of consumer as is done in the western nations he saidThe plea said the age verification mechanism shall be done with the help of matching it with government issued identity cards like Aadhaar and voter cardIt also sought that the Delhi government be restrained from giving effect to the recent amendment made in the Excise Rules which permit the door step delivery of liquor until a robust age verification mechanism is instituted even for door delivery PTI SKV SKV RKS RKS
