At least three managers of pubs in Bengaluru’s central business district (CBD) have been booked under the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act, 2015 for allegedly serving liquor to revellers under the age of 18.

Section 77 of the JJ Act states that anyone serving drugs, tobacco or any such intoxicating substance or liquor to minors can be sentenced for up to seven years in prison and/or fined up to Rs 1 lakh.

The cases were booked during a surprise check carried out by Central Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths, who raided 701 places, including pubs, bars, hotels and other commercial joints across CBD and other places on Friday night. While three cases were booked under the JJ Act during the raid, nine were booked under the Excise Act for illegally serving liquor in hotels, and 14 under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003. Further, 480 individuals were booked under COTPA for smoking in public areas. Overall, 390 commercial establishments were booked for running their business beyond scheduled time.

Police commissioner B Dayananda told STOI the authorities would continue to carry out surprise raids. “We had received many complaints on illegal activities like liquor being served to minors and smoking being allowed inside the entire pub or hotel. During the raids, we caught around 10 minors consuming alcohol in different pubs and booked the managers for serving them liquor. In other places, COTPA cases were booked. According to COTPA rules, a particular place inside the bar or pub or hotel should be declared a smoking zone and only in such places is smoking allowed,” he said. The minors were sent away after being issued a warning.

The cops checked the ID cards and other documents of the revellers. There were reports that some minors had used Aadhaar cards of others to gain entry into the joints. A senior CCB officer said, “We are still checking the authenticity of such suspected cards.”