Apex Court admits PIL on liquor policy

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 
Visakhapatnam

The Supreme Court of India today admitted a Public Interest Litigation filed by NGO Chaitanya Sravanthi seeking a national policy on liquor.

The petition was admitted by the court on December 5 and will come up for hearing on December 15, said its president Shirin Rahman on Tuesday. The petitioner also prayed for audit of manufacture and import of all varieties of alcohol and distribution and supply in all States and Union Territories and implementation of restrictions on sale to minors and setting up shops near schools and places of worship.

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience after a survey that covered 28,000 persons in slums in urban, semi-urban and rural areas found alcohol consumption was leading to mental ill health. She said that the percentage of those getting addicted to liquor had gone up to 22 per cent from 2 per cent 20 years ago. A WHO survey made it clear that youth were taking to drink at the early age of 13 compared to 21 in the past.