Patna HC pulls up Bihar govt over mounting liquor ban cases

The Patna High Court on Friday pulled up Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar over the mounting liquor prohibition related cases.

A bench comprised of Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh stated that such cases are putting a huge burden on the judiciary and added that it will no more bear the burden of the same.

The judicature has also asked the Chief Secretary to explain in detail about the measures taken by the state government to deal with the mounting cases.

According to the bench, the court is already burdened with over 2 lakh prohibition-related cases, out of which 90 per cent of them have already got bail from the High Court.

"In how many such cases has the state government appealed the high court's order in the Supreme Court? How does the government feel the burden of two lakh cases? It is like an emergency. There is a lot of hindrance in the disposal of other cases in our lower courts," the judges told advocate general Lalit Kishore.

The court also sought to know what actions the state machinery has taken to pursue the cases filed in the apex court challenging the enforcement of the prohibition in the state.

In 2016, the Bihar government had put a ban on country liquor from April 1 while banning the consumption of any alcohol six months later.