They died of alcohol consumption earlier, now it is spurious liquor: Paswan

Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan has called on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to remove the current liquor ban laws.

Commenting on the new law introduced by the Bihar Cabinet, Paswan said, "Today is 2nd October, simply paying tributes and garlanding Mahatma Gandhi's statue won't make his dreams come true. We have to clean our cities ... The new law won't bring any change. Earlier, people used to die of alcohol consumption earlier, now they are dying due to spurious liquor."

"They need to remove the law which says if a family member consumes liquor, the whole family or the entire village will be held accountable. If a law has to be made, it should be such that if a person is caught due to liquor consumption, the chief minister of the state will go to jail too," he added.

Janata Dal United leader, Ajay Alok told ANI, he said, "This is not a new matter. The chief minister has announced this long time back. Law was already passed on 7th after being signed by the Governor."

"It is a completely new law and a new prohibition act will be implemented from tomorrow," he added.

The Patna High Court quashed on Friday notification banning liquor in Bihar, holding the penal provisions "unreasonable and draconian" and that they "cannot be justified in a civilized society".

However, 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 that would allow the prohibition to continue.

The meeting also deliberated on the option to approach the Supreme Court against the high court order quashing the April 5 notification that banned the sale and consumption of alcohol. The High Court said the ban was ultra vires of the Constitution.

Bihar's 'Grand Secular Alliance' government had first banned the manufacture, trade, sale and consumption of country-made liquor since April 1, but later imposed a blanket ban on all types of liquor, including foreign liquor, in the state.

The amended liquor law to be approved for notification by the state cabinet on October 2 will have been passed by both Houses of the state legislature and consented to by the governor.