Days after the Patna High Court struck down Bihar’s prohibition law, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday introduced a more stringent Prohibition and Excise Act to keep Bihar dry.
The government notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 to ensure that the ban on sale and consumption of alcohol including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well spiced and domestic liquor continued in the state.
Addressing a press conference, Bihar CM said-“Now people are not wasting money on alcohol like before”.
That money was being used in better ways and financial situation improving, he added.
It is pertinent to mention that a day before the Patna high court had scrapped the Bihar government’s prohibition law, terming it was “draconian” and said, “can’t be justified in a civilised society”.
But hours later, a high-level meeting called by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar decided to summon the state Cabinet on October 2 to ratify a notification on an amended liquor law for continuation of prohibition.
The meeting also deliberated on the option to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court against the High Court order, quashing the April 5 notification on liquor ban, saying it was ultra vires to the Constitution.
“The Bihar Excise & Prohibition Act, 2016 will come into force from October 2 and total liquor ban will continue in Bihar. The high court order was related to the old Act that came into force in April this year,” the chief minister explained.
In a judgment, a bench of Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh quashed the April 5 notification of the state government banning consumption and sale of alcohol in the state.
