Bihar liquor ban: Amended law a discount for rich, says Tejashwi

Former deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav on Monday mocked the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which was passed by the Bihar assembly earlier today.

Yadav said that the amendment in the bill is a discount for the rich.

"Such an amendment in the liquor law is a discount for the rich. Instead of a fine of Rs 50,000, the affluent class will give just Rs 5000 and get alcohol," said Yadav.

"Even after liquor ban, people are caught with liquor stockpiles. It should have been the responsibility of the Bihar government to ensure security on the state borders and get hold of the factories from where liquor is being supplied," he added.

Facing flak over the blanket ban on liquor in the state, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar today introduced the amendments to the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 in the monsoon session of the state assembly.

The amendment Bill says changes have been proposed "in order to stop misuse of provisions of the law against the innocent and bring the punishment in proportion to the crime".

Earlier today, Nitish Kumar, while speaking on the new liquor bill tabled in Bihar, said, "Liquor ban was introduced for the poor people. They were wasting a major part of their income on buying alcohol. Domestic violence was high. I did this for the betterment of poor."

The amendment has been passed by voice vote in the assembly.

With the passage of the Bill, as many as 16 provisions of the 2016 will stand amended following the official notification.