Bengaluru bars continue to serve liquor to underaged

Bengaluru: Although the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 makes serving of alcohol to underage people an offence, there have been no checks at city bars and restaurants. A reality check by team DC at some bars in the city revealed that school and college students formed a large chunk of the clientele and the bars owners were not conducting any checks to ascertain their age.

Though things were expected to change after the Justice Juvenile Bill, 2015 was passed, wherein section 78 clearly stated that serving intoxicants or liquors to minors is a criminal offence, was punishable up to seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh, but the situation on the ground has not changed. The earlier Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 also contained punitive provisions for those serving children intoxicants, but they were less severe.

Ashish Kothari, president of the Association of Bar and Restaurant, Pub & Hotels said, “When a rule is in place, that has to be followed. All I can say is that some of the bar owners are not being responsible. When the rule clearly states that a person has to be above 21 years of age, it has to be strictly followed.”