Finally, law to allow drinking at 21 coming

Sat, May 10 12:50 AM

DELHI IS finally set to have its own excise laws, after sticking to the Punjab Excise Act for 94 years. The Delhi cabinet on Monday is expected to clear the draft Delhi Excise Bill 2008, which officials said was more liberal and in tune with times.

The new laws allow women bartenders and bring down the permissible age for drinking to 21 from 25. After the cabinet nod, the Bill would be introduced in the assembly and implemented in the city.

Officials said the process would take a few weeks at best. Efforts were on to complete the process "as soon as possible", they added.

The Delhi government has adopted most provisions of a model excise bill prepared by the central government for all states. It has, however, not implemented certain "drastic" provisions in the model bill like lowering the drinking age to 18.

Finance Minister A.K.

Walia told HT: "In the new excise regime, we are focusing on improving enforcement and harsh punishment for bootleggers." On lowering of permissible age to 21, Walia said the cabinet would take the final call.

The Bill also allows women to serve liquor in bars. Though the courts permitted it last year, the Bill would bring a law on gender equality as far as serving liquor is concerned, as is the practice in western countries.

The third element in the Bill is setting up an Excise Intelligence Bureau to enforce strict penalties for violators. Bootlegging would be a non-bailable offence.

Illegal import of foreign liquor would lead to six months in jail and Rs 1 lakh fine. Drinking in public places, quite common in Delhi, would lead to six months in jail.

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