The Delhi High Court on Friday sought to know the stand of the Centre and the Delhi governments, and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on a petition suggesting written and pictorial warnings on liquor bottles warning people against dangers of consuming alcohol and drunken driving.
Petition by CADD
The petition, moved by non-government organisation Community Against Drunken Driving (CADD) through its founder Prince Singhal, also sought an increase in the size of the existing statutory warnings.
CADD has sought directions to the governments “to mandate all alcohol producers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, sellers, etc., nationwide to print in large font the dangers of consuming alcohol and driving”.
Statutory warnings
It also sought directions to alcohol manufacturers to increase the size of the existing statutory warnings on alcohol bottles. The NGO said: “It’s no secret that excess alcohol consumption is a social problem that needs to be tackled, besides excess alcohol consumption resulting in higher percentage of drinking and driving.”
“Illegible font”
It added that the governments had “failed to devise a national policy prescribing the size of the statutory warning to be printed on liquor bottles, points-of-sale or other appropriate locations to motivate citizens to making informed decisions and abstain from consumption of alcohol and driving” and “in most cases the statutory warning are deliberately inscribed in a minscule and illegible font”.
Survey by petitioner
Submitting that pictorial health warnings are the most effective way of communicating ill effects of tobacco use, particularly among those with low literacy or no formal education, the petitioner said the same can be used in case of alcohol. CADD also shared statistics from a survey conducted by it to show that of all cases of drunken driving “only 6.94% were stopped and prosecuted by the police”. “The survey also identified a drinking pattern in Delhi. As many as 49.6% men and 42.3% women respondents claimed to have had their first drink before or at the age of 13 years,” it said.
