Drink and your family will be rounded up, Bihar to amend prohibition law

Patna: The Nitish Kumar government is bringing in several amendments to tighten the prohibition law in Bihar, which came into effect on April 1 this year.

According to a report in The Indian Express, one of the amendments includes making culpable all adults of a family if any member is found drinking, possessing or selling liquor from the premises they occupy.

The amendments are being introduced despite protests by JD (U) ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and main opposition party BJP.

Other stringent changes being made to the law include provisions to confiscate property and impose collective penalty on a village or town, said the report. Even company owners will face legal action if alcohol is consumed, stored or distributed in their premises by any person.

The amendments to the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016, were tabled in the Assembly on Friday and will be taken up for discussion on Monday.

The BJP has described the proposals as “draconian and disproportionate to offence”, said the report.

BJP legislature party leader Sushil Kumar Modi slammed the proposed amendments, saying they contravene fundamental rights of an individual by blaming the whole family for the mistake of one of its members.

In a jibe at the grand alliance, Kumar said Nitish Kumar should be asked whether the police would arrest Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi and their children if someone throws an empty liquor bottle into their compound.

LJP chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the proposed amendments were an “an act of madness”, said the report.

The Nitish Kumar government however, has kept toddy out of the liquor category and allowed its personal use under a 1991 rule.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has invited Nobel laureate and child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi to study the impact of prohibition in the state, which Satyarthi has accepted. The Nobel laureate had earlier praised the CM for bringing in prohibition, claiming it would also reduce child abuse and child labour.