If you can vote in 18 years, why can't you drink alcohol? : You

- AAP defends court's decision to reduce minimum drinking age from 6 to 21

New Delhi: During a public interest litigation hearing in the Delhi High Court against the government's decision to reduce the minimum age for drinking from 6 to 21 years, the AAP government said in its defense that

If a person can vote at the age of 18, then those who are above 18 years of age should be considered to be living in a monolithic palace which indicates that they should not be allowed to drink alcohol. That doesn't make sense. Advocate Manu Singhvi told Chief Justice D.N. Patel and a bench comprising Justice Jyotisinh. The government had mentioned driving under the influence of alcohol in its defense as the public interest petition was filed by Community Against Drunk Driving. The petitioner said in his application that the reduction in the minimum age for drinking qualification had raised fears that the number of cases of drunk driving would increase. The petitioner also insisted that a system be made mandatory for age verification at all places where liquor is sold. The petitioner said that the Delhi government should be prevented from implementing the new excise policy unless a system is put in place to verify the age of the person. Under the new policy, the minimum age for drinking alcohol has been reduced from 5 to 21 years.

The petitioner claimed that in response to an earlier application filed by us in 2012, the court had directed the Delhi government to formulate a policy to verify the age of persons at liquor outlets but the government failed to take action in this regard and we had to file a PIL.