Nitish govt firm on booze ban, to seek legal opinion

NEW DELHI: Despite getting a Supreme Court stay on the Patna high court order quashing the anti-liquor law, the Nitish Kumar government appears to worry about validity of some penal provisions in its October 2 notification banning sale, possession and consumption of liquor in the state.

Wary of SC scrutiny of the prohibition law, the government has sought opinion of legal experts and public on the necessity of vicarious liability fastened by the law with regard to possession and consumption of liquor.

Bihar’s additional advocate general Lalit Kishore told TOI that the government “is not looking at diluting the new law that was enforced from October 2”. He said: “We are looking for suggestions to enable the enforcement agencies to scrupulously implement the prohibition without causing collateral action against innocent persons.” “For this purpose we have consulted legal experts and have kept the suggestion box for public open till November 12,” he said.


Among the provisions up for amendment are the vicarious liability fastened on all adult family members if liquor was found in possession in the house by any one of them.

The other provisions which have been opposed by public are imposition of community fine for a member of the community consuming liquor and the seizure of the entire premises if liquor was found in any of the rooms.

The government consulted former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam, who told TOI he encouraged the government to seek public opinion on certain penal provisions to facilitate the legal experts take a holistic view about their implementability and if necessary make minor amendments.