SC slams Bihar prohibition law again for choking courts

The Supreme Court has slammed the Bihar Prohibition Amendment Act, 2016, as an example of 'law made without judicial impact assessment' that has clogged the functioning of courts. This is the second time SC has hit out at the Nitish Kumar government for making a law without considering its impact on functioning of courts.

"The law has virtually clogged courts. Two-thirds of the judges are now just hearing bail cases, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, sitting with Justice MM Sundresh, said on Tuesday. Justice Kaul was dealing with several bail pleas listed before him. The law has made any kind of dealing in liquor an offence leading to a situation in which entire families were behind bars, lawyers said. CJI NV Ramana had passed several harsh remarks on the same law some weeks ago.

"Do you know its impact (The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016) on the working of the Patna High Court? It is taking a year to get a matter listed. All courts are choked with liquor bail matters," Ramana had said. He made the observations while dismissing a batch of appeals filed by the state challenging grant of anticipatory and regular bails to accused under the liquor law.


"Prosecution should be made in all earnestness to secure conviction and punishment," the CJI had then said. Prohibition related cases amount to 25% cases in lower courts and 20% in HC, official estimates showed.

In 2019, the Patna HC had asked the state government to present a plan on how it proposes to dispose of the cases. It also said that anything seized under the law would be automatically released if confiscation proceedings were not closed within 90 plus 30 days. Though special courts were mandated in the new law for trial of these cases, these could not be set up.