Nitish makes Bihar dry again

New stringent law to implement prohibition; HC quashing of prohibition to not have any impact, says Kumar

Two days after the Patna High Court scrapped the prohibition law in Bihar, the Nitish Kumar government brought into play a more stringent Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, on Sunday to keep the state dry.

Before the high court pronounced its order on Friday, the state government had notified and announced its plan to implement the new Act from Gandhi Jayanti. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said all previous excise laws, including the one quashed by the high court on Friday, "would be repealed with the enforcement of the new Act".

The new Act could jail offenders for up to seven years and make them poorer by Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, two days after the high court quashed its order on banning alcohol consumption, said a PTI report.

"This legislation was passed by the Assembly on August 4, while the Governor gave his accent on the Bill earlier last month. We had already notified the Bill on September 14 and we decided to implement it on October 2, given the importance of this day," Kumar told journalists after a Cabinet meeting. "The court's decision is about the policy implemented on April 5. With the implementation of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, all other pervious excise laws have been repealed. Therefore, the court's decision would not have any impact on this legislation."

The chief minister also announced that the state government will file a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the high court order scrapping prohibition.

The CM said prohibition was for the betterment of society. "People should go and see the post-prohibition peaceful environment in villages. The impact has been transformational. Children, women and men have supported our efforts. It is going to earn us financial rewards of more than Rs 10,000 crore and these will become visible very soon," he said.