ABSTRACT
The research paper talks about the ambiguity in the alcohol laws of India and focuses on the different legal ages for the consumption of alcohol in India in different states. Currently, alcohol can be found in the State list under entry 51 of the Schedule 7 of the Constitution of India. This enables the state governments to make their own laws for this subject. This has resulted in different minimum legal drinking ages in different states.Moreover, this paper also includes a critical economic analysis as to the reasons behind the formation and implementation of the alcohol ban in the States of Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram. The paper also discusses the result of the outcome if the subject of alcohol under Article 47 under the Directive Principle of the State Policy is shifted from the State list to the Concurrent list where both the States and the Centre will have the opportunity to make policies regarding the subject of alcohol. The paper also includes the rules and policies related to ‘Alcohol’ in other countries in the world.This paper greatly emphasises on the need for a uniform legal drinking age so that the crimes like black-marketing of alcohol, bootlegging and smuggling are put to an end.
- Introduction:
There is a lot of ambiguity in various laws that are enforced in India. As a country, we have varying legal drinking ages for the consumption of alcohol in different parts of the country even in today’s modern era. Therefore there exists a large amount of ambiguity and confusion due to the illogical liquor laws that have been implemented in India. Alcohol as a subject comes under the State list entry 51 under the Schedule 7 of the Indian constitution. This gives freedom to all the states for making their own laws for this subject.[1] This has led to a wide diversification resulting in different minimum legal age in different states for liquor consumption. According to statistics the consumption of alcohol in India has increased by 55% in the last 5 years.[2] Thus there exists a need for the proper regulation of laws pertaining to Alcohol.
- Analysis of India’s liquor policy:
As a nation we are 28 states and 9 Union Territories in an area of 3,287,263 km2 and all the states and the Union territories are united by the same national spirit. There is a lot of discrepancies among various states when it comes to the legal age of drinking. The minimum legal age for consumption of alcohol is 18 in states like Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Kerala & in Union Territories like Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. However the legal age for consumption is 21 in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura and Orissa & in Union Territories like Dadra and Nagar Haveli. States like Punjab, Haryana and the Union Territories of Chandigarh and Delhi have the legal age of consumption of alcohol as 25. In India there are a number of states that have a complete alcohol ban , whereas in other states the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) varies from 18 to 25 years. On the other hand, the Western Countries have a narrower band of MLDA: 18 IN Mexico, 21 in the USA, 18 or 19 in Canada and 16to 18 in Europe.[3] A compilation made by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking mentions about the MLDA of various countries. In the same research; 135 out of 184 countries have the minimum legal drinking age as 18 years.[4]
- Need for the uniform MLDA (Minimum Legal Drinking Age):
It is very important to have uniformity in order to control negative elements and decrease the discrimination. In our country, we have a uniform right to vote where any citizen of India can vote for his representative after attaining the age of 18 years, a uniform age of 18 years to drive on roads; similarly a fixed age should be made by the central government to consume alcohol.The subject of Sanitization, public welfare and forests were shifted from the State List to the Concurrent List by a Constitutional Amendment. Similarly by a Constitutional Amendment the liquor policies can be standardized in all the states.[5]
The Minimum Legal Drinking Age reflects the paternalistic behaviour of the government as it is trying to regulate the lifestyle of the younger section of the society by overlooking their interests. [6]If at the age of 18 or 21 years, there is freedom to get married, have children, freedom to vote for the country, and join the Armed Forces; then the abrupt alcohol ban all over the country must be either uniformed or removed altogether, asto even consider the people in the age group of 18 – 24 asirresponsible drinkers seems illogical in the current scenario. In the same country we have different states having fixed different age bars. Does that mean that a 18 year old in Bihar is more responsible than a 18 year old in Chandigarh. The law should be same for everyone and there should be a universal alcohol policy throughout the country.
- Illogical liquor Policies in India:
On the other hand, it is also contended that there is no need for the standardization of liquor rules as there are certain states in which there is a complete alcohol ban. Alcohol was banned in these states so that there is proper maintenance of law and order in these states. Introducing alcohol in these states can lead to a disaster. Having a single norm for a diversified country like India would have resulted in a conflict of interest of different states and thus chaos in Indian society. This is the reason why the makers of our constitution did not make a uniform policy for its consumption and liquor was put under the state list so that each state according to the requirement would restrict, allow or disallow the age of consuming alcohol.
The problem is that in the era of diversification, it is impossible to restrict individuals. When a person has an alternate medium to consume diverse substances, the individual tends to incline towards and be dependent on that. It is on the nation to ensure that the loopholes of the law should be filled. Ideally, if the drinking age is uniform in all the states, there is less probability that the smuggling of liquor will take place.
- Most violations of rules due to lack of knowledge:
It is general research that citizens of a particular state are not aware of the legal drinking age in their respective states. Most of the people who suffer fine and punishment have no intention and mensrea to break the alcohol laws but unfortunately are involved due to the lack of knowledge regarding that law. Different states in India have a different legal age for alcohol consumption and even in that, different substances like Beer, liquor, Wine have their own certain minimum age to consume. For a prudent person, it turns out to be a difficult position to remember these minimum ages.
We can take a classic example to analyse the illogical liquor policies in India. The Golden Quadrilateral managed by the National Highway Authorities of India is a highway network that connects various agricultural, cultural and industrial centres in India.[7] If a person makes a trip from Delhi via Jaipur and Gandhinagar to Mumbai then the person can truly experience the sad state of affairs of the liquor laws in India. In a journey of just 1500 kilometres we can observe the extreme non uniformity in the liquor laws that create confusion in a common man’s mind. Starting from Delhi where the legal age of consuming alcohol is 25, Jaipur where the MLDA is 18, Gandhinagar in Gujarat where there is complete alcohol ban and Mumbai in Maharashtra which has two different legal drinking ages (21 for beer and 25 for other hard drinks). The problem occurs when a person is not aware of such fact regarding the minimum legal age in other states. In case he violates the law then he could be prosecuted and be fined of Rupees 10,000. It is humanly impossible to remember certain ages for different states[8].
- Banning of alcohol by states and its consequences:
There are various states that have imposed a complete ban on alcohol due to various ideologies and reformative practices to curb crime. These states are the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland and Mizoram. There are various consequences on these policies like increased black-marketing, selling of the booze illegally at increased prices two times the normal. If the law is unreasonable, society tries to break the laws. This issue is not only for the states where there is an alcohol ban but these issues are also reported in the areas where the legal age for drinking is high. A total or complete ban on anything is impossible to achieve until and unless it is in the most limited sense. There is a requirement of a proper cost and benefit analysis that needs to be done before prohibition on the consumption of alcohol is done by the state. [9] The state of Haryana tried to put an alcohol ban in the state in the year 1996 but it had to remove it in the year 1998 as there were increased cases of black-marketing and availability of alcohol from the neighbouring states. The state of Tamil Nadu also had impose a complete ban on alcohol in the year 1971 but due to excessive bootlegged spiked alcohol leading to mass deaths in 1975 and 1976; the state called off the liquor ban[10]. States like Kerala earn 22% of the total government revenue from the total excise and commercial tax revenue from alcohol.[11] According to statistics, the revenue from sale of alcohol in Kerala shot up by Rs 671 Crore for the financial year of 2017-2018.[12]Revenue earned by the state from alcohol is used for meeting various kinds of expenditures by the state.
- Conclusion:
If there is a uniform age for drinking in all the states then the functioning of law would not be hampered. It will be viable for a prudent person to ensure that he should respect the governing law and further needs to fulfil the obligation by keeping himself under the realm of law. Ideally, if the drinking age is uniform in all the states, there is less probability that the smuggling of liquor and practices like bootlegging will take place. Enforcing a liquor ban is something that is easier said than done and the states suffer huge losses in case of a total ban. It is time for the subject of ‘Alcohol’ to be put in the Concurrent list and the Central Government to take up the responsibility to make regulations on Alcohol for the states.
[1]PM Bakshi, The Constitution of India
[2]SumitraDebroy, Indians Alcohol Drinking up 55% in past 20 years, (Jan. 29, 2020, 14:33 PM), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Indians-drinking-alcohol-up-55-in-20 years/articleshow/47313965.cms
[3]Dara Lee &Gunjan Sharma, The Effectiveness And Effects Of Alcohol Regulation: Evidence From India, IZA Journal of Development and Migration
[4]Minimum Legal Age Limits, (Jan. 18, 2020, 11:25 PM), http://iardwebprod.azurewebsites.net/science-resources/detail/minimum-legal-age-limits/
[5]Dr KK Aggarwal, One India one Health Policy?,(Jan. 19, 2020, 18:28 PM), https://www.indialegallive.com/health/one-india-one-health-policy-58481
[6]SahejveerBaweja, Need of the Hour: Uniform Legal Drinking Age in India, 1 Law Audience Journal.
[7]The Golden Quadrilateral: Highway to success, (Jan. 16, 2020, 16:24 PM), https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/macroeconomics/the-golden-quadrilateral-highway-to-success.html
[8]IANS.”Underage drinking rampant in Delhi: Survey”, India Today, (Jan. 15, 2020, 10:11 PM), https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/underage-drinking-rampant-in-delhi-survey-38621-2009-02-01
[9] MARK THORNTON , THE ECONOMICS OF PROHIBITION 143
[10]Mridula Chari, The long and twisted history of prohibition in Tamil Nadu, (Feb. 02, 2020, 11:35 PM), https://scroll.in/article/806448/the-long-and-twisted-history-of-prohibition-in-tamil-nadu
[11]The Alcohol Economy, (Jan. 25, 2020, 22:50 PM), https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/the-alcohol-economy/article20697419.ece1
[12]Liquor Sales Revenue Goes Up By Rs 671 Cr In Kerala For Fy18, (Jan. 21, 2020, 3:50 PM), https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/liquor-sales-revenue-goes-up-by-rs-671-cr-in-kerala-for-fy18/article24254591.ece
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