The state's decision to raise the legal drinking age for hard liquor to 25 may be ostensibly aimed at curbing addiction and encouraging responsible drinking, but bar owners restaurateurs and even excise officials have said that the move will only lead to increased corruption and harassment of the public.
More bars and patrons would be targeted for not having the permits that allow those who are at least 25 to consume hard liquor, they said. To top it off, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said the permit system needs to be reconsidered.
While awaiting the notification, most liquor establishments said that they and their patrons must prepare to "manage" excise and police officials.
An incident that occurred in Navi Mumbai four months ago could be a sign of things to come.
"Maharashtra is the only state in the country that requires drinkers to have a permit," said Chandrahas Shetty, advisor to Ahar ( Indian Hotels and Restaurants Association). "Each permit room has individual sections for eating and drinking, but it becomes difficult to separate the two. Four months ago, a family was eating dinner in a permit room when the police arrived to ask the man, who had a drink only by his plate, if he owned a permit. Like most, he did not. Right there, before his wife and children and other patrons, the police handcuffed him and took him to the lock-up. He was released the next day."
The hoteliers took up the issue with the authorities, who admitted that grey areas exist in policing liquor consumption. Shetty said the higher drinking age provides law-enforcers with another window for bribery. "At the end of the day, if hotel owners must run their business, they will have to manage the law," he said.
"As per prohibition laws, the police are required to be accompanied by an excise official while raiding a premises. Seldom is that rule enforced. Often, bar owners are kept in the lock-up overnight until they pay up." Farhang Jehani, the owner of Colaba's Leopold Café, said, "The government itself is so corrupt. It is encouraging the system to become corrupt by allowing fines to be extracted from hardworking youngsters."
Senior Maharashtra excise officials have taken strong objection to the higher drinking age. They said when the Centre is in the process of abolishing the permit system in all sectors, the state is amiss in trying to enforce such restrictions.
"It will only increase corruption manifold. Neither the excise department nor the police have enough staff to check if all youths have a permit," said a senior excise official. New centres of corruption would be created, he said. "Except for Maharashtra, no other state has the permit system. Whenever a person enters a permit room, he should be an adult. At the most he should be asked for that age proof. The prohibition minister has committed a blunder that will enhance corruption," he said. Even as establishments await the dreaded notification, they are flummoxed about how to tackle it. "I am allowed to serve beer to a 21-year-old, but if he orders hard liquor next I must turn him down," said a restaurateur in Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri. "How many times can I ask for age proof and how many customers will offer it?"
Shetty pointed out that the airport is strewn with bars and re s t a u r a n t s where people of all ages from every state enjoy drinks without hindrance. "In fact, the stricter the law, the harder compliance becomes. People will simply travel to Goa to drink or smuggle cheap liquor," he said. "Karnataka imposed harsh curbs before it found it was losing revenue and did an aboutturn."
Tongue firmly in cheek, the oldest wine shop in the city, Peekay Wines, has tailored its website to suit the law. 'Please enter this site only if you are above the legal drinking age,' it pleads. On a more serious note, owner Zeus Zend said, "It is atrocious that a young man who can drive a car and elect the Parliament of his country at 18, marry and have children at 21, and lose a leg in war, cannot enjoy a responsible drink until he turns 25."
The timing of the missive is unmistakably ironic given the backdrop of corruption within the corridors of power. "The common man has been forced to take to the streets to fight corruption in government quarters even as he struggles to manage his daily budget. The government's priority meanwhile is to control Young India's dietary habits," said a south Mumbai hotelier.
The hospitality industry wishes the police curbed real crime rather than become moral police. One member dryly pointed out that the heir of India's leading liquor baron is under-25. "Will you ask him to stay out of his distillery so he does not get a whiff of what's inside?" he asked.
Times View
The people of Mumbai have been notoriously vulnerable to law enforcers who seek bribes on the flimsiest of pretexts. Demanding that drinkers have permits specifying they are at least 25 years of age so they can consume alcohol makes it much easier for law-enforcers to harass the public under the guise of enforcing a system that is admittedly outdated. Leaving the drinking age at 21 would close the door on such corruption.
The notion that a 21-year-old is not mature enough to drink is ridiculous, since one can vote, marry, drive and even fight for one's country by that age. If the state seeks to curb addiction and promote responsible drinking, other measures can be put in place - like promoting alcohol awareness groups, having better monitoring at liquor outlets and giving heavier penalties for irresponsible drinking.
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