Nitish govt may amend Bihar liquor law to make it less stringent, bill likely next month

In the wake of recent hooch incidents in Bihar where dozens of people lost their lives, the Nitish Kumar government is likely to amend the existing liquor law to make prohibition less stringent. An amendment bill may be tabled in Bihar Assembly's budget session in February.

According to sources, the Nitish Kumar government is working on the amendment bill to bring some changes in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. The amended law is likely to propose that if any person is caught consuming liquor may not be directly sent to jail. Police and excise officials will have the option of releasing the person on the spot after taking a decision.

The person caught consuming liquor will be sent to jail if only found to be a repeated offender by the police and excise officials.

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The Supreme Court earlier this month remarked that the Bihar liquor law was impacting the functioning of judiciary with 14-15 Patna High Court judges only hearing the bail pleas relating to arrests made under the law.

The Nitish Kumar government is also considering a proposal to release a vehicle found involved in liquor violation by paying a penalty.

According to sources, there is also a proposal to increase the number of courts in the Bihar’s districts to deal with the pending cases related to prohibition.

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In 2018, an amendment was brought in the prohibition law according to which a new proposal was incorporated to release a person directly from the police station after imposing a penalty of Rs 50,000 if caught consuming liquor.

Hooch deaths in Bihar have been a worry for the Bihar government. In the latest instance, 13 people lost their lives in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s home district Nalanda last week.

Pressure is mounting on Nitish Kumar to repeal the liquor law not only from the Opposition parties but the alliance partners as well. The recent remarks by the Supreme Court, which did not find Nitish Kumar’s prohibition decision visionary, added to the chorus asking for amending the prohibition law.

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