Ban on liquor sale and consumption is a good step
Liquor sale and consumption was recently banned by the
Uttarakhand High Court in three districts. Thus this state too entered the domain of
morals and desired behaviour. It has
also banned tobacco products within a five-km radius of three gurdwaras.
Article 47 of the Constitution, says it is the duty of the state to raise
the level of nutrition and standard of living of the people and improve public
health, and to prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs. In fact, earlier this year the Supreme
Court refused to entertain a petition seeking a nation-wide ban on alcohol,
observing that this was a matter of policy into which it cannot venture. It is true that Legislation should be left
to legislature, but if legislature is not able to perform its duty properly
then judiciary has to foray into policy making which is domain of legislature.
Though the banning of liquor in three
districts of Utrakhand States seems to be an overreach of judiciary on the
apparent view, it can be accepted for a noble cause of preventing liquor on
moral ground of saving the divinity of the places of worship. The court cannot be a mute spectator
because people find court a solution renderer to their problems when the polity
fails to redress on democratic and welfare orientation. The courts have now
realized that the moral policing is the need of the hour.
Hundreds and thousands die of alcohol consumption annually
and also it is root cause of many evils in the society. A nationwide ban on
alcohol consumption would be a welcome step. Courts should definitely take a
lead. If there are valid reasons for disallowing Liquor sales and Beedi/
Cigarettes near temples etc, why not extend the same to all
"important" public laces too, and the same law applied?
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