The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed concern over the Union government's failure to appear in the hearing of a plea seeking mandatory age verification at liquor outlets across the country, despite the service of notice [Community Against Drunken Driving Versus The Union Of India And Ors.].
A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh heard the matter briefly today, when it noted that no counsel had appeared for the Central government despite service of notice.
“Respondent 1 (the Union Government) notice is served. No one is appearing for the Union. It is an important issue. They don't take you seriously?” remarked Justice Nath.
"They are not taking the matter seriously," replied the petitioner's counsel.
The Court proceeded to grant the Union government four weeks to file its response.
The Bench also said that it would request the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta to appear in the matter.
The Court has directed the petitioner to serve a copy of the order on the Solicitor General's office.
The matter has been listed next after six weeks.
The plea has been filed by a non-profit organisation named Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD).
It seeks directions to establish a mandatory age-verification system at liquor shops, bars, pubs and restaurants to prevent underage drinking and curb incidents of drunk driving. The plea highlights the absence of a uniform mechanism to verify the age of people purchasing alcohol. It argued that inadequate checks allow minors to access alcohol and contribute to accidents involving underage drivers allegedly driving under the influence.
During Wednesday's hearing, counsel for the petitioner argued that a uniform protocol was necessary because the minimum legal age for purchasing alcohol varied across States.
The counsel said that the concern was about the mechanism used to verify a liquor purchaser's age and called on the Union government to harmonise the process.
“There should be a protocol mandate for age verification at the first point of sale all over India because you have eight States with minimum age requirement as 25 years, 18 years. All over basically different ages,” submitted the counsel.
The Court also heard another connected plea filed by CADD seeking restrictions on the sale of alcohol in packaging (like tetra packs) that resembles ordinary beverages, such as fruit juices.
Senior Advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for the Tetra Pack Manufacturers Association, sought to be impleaded in the case. The Court allowed his application.
Datar told the Court that alcohol was being sold in tetra packs across 10 States and Union Territories.
The petitioner's counsel raised concerns about this state of affais, noting that liquor cocktails were being packaged in tetra packs similar to those used for fruit juices and marketed under names such as “chilli mango vodka."
“They sell alcohol in fruit-shaped packs and call it chilli mango vodka. They put the vodka part low. No warning is required in this. It is unbelievable how they are allowed to be sold like this,” he submitted.
In May this year, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had sought responses from the Union government and State excise departments on CADD's plea for a ban on alcohol sold in inconspicuous packaging, including tetra packs and sachets. The Bench, at the time, had described such packaging as “very deceptive."
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