Age verification will be required for home delivery of liquor: Kejriwal govt to Delhi High Court

The Delhi government on Wednesday informed the Delhi High Court that Aadhaar or some other age verification method will be mandated for home delivery of liquor as envisaged in the proposed changes to Delhi Excise Rules (Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma v State (NCT of Delhi) and Ors)..The government counsel added that the facility is yet to come into existence since there is no change in its policy as yet and the challenge to the same is pre-mature.The submission was made by Delhi Government’s Senior Counsel Rahul Mehra before the Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh which is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma..Verma’s counsel, Pallavi Sengupta, argued that the excise rules have been passed without considering factors like age surveillance..“The rules do not provide for a proper oversight so that underage people are stopped from availing this facility. This is the main argument. It’s not in the spirit of Article 47 of the Constitution,” Sengupta submitted..The Bench then asked Mehra how the age of buyers will be verified.“Suppose somebody orders on email or app etc. How will you verify? This question must be answered,” CJ Patel said.“Most likely the things which happen is that you have to have your Aadhaar and your age verification will be done. There is going to be some module as and when it happens. As of today the facility is not there. We will answer my lord’s queries," Mehra responded. .He also argued that there has been no change in the government policy as even earlier the Delhi Excise Rules had the provision for ordering of liquor by email or fax. The 2021 amendment, Mehra argued, only said that instead of email or fax, mobile number or one particular app can also be used for the purpose.“So there is only a method or mode which has been changed. It earlier existed and continues to exist. But it is still not in our policy therefore it is premature to agitate over this,” he said..The petitioner had also argued that ordering liquor at home will have a bad influence on children. Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, also appearing for the State government, however contended that a person who goes out to buy alcohol also brings it home and it doesn’t mean that he intends to destroy his children’s values.The Court was also informed that the reply filed by the Delhi government is not on record after which the Bench said that the response should be brought on record. The Bench also said that if the petitioner wants to file any rejoinder they can do so and listed the case for further hearing along with other petitions challenging the excise rules on November 18.