JOIN USBihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday reiterated that he won’t scale down any of the penal provisions that the Opposition had termed draconian in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Bill, 2016. The Bill was tabled in the Assembly on Monday.
“Even if I am decimated, I will not compromise on the strict penal provisions incorporated in the new prohibition law,” Kumar said.
Dispelling the BJP’s apprehensions that the draconian provision to jail all adult members of a family if liquor is found in their house, Kumar said: “This provision has been made as it would serve as a deterrent. But let me clarify, that only those adult members who are present in the house at that time will be liable for prosecution. This law won’t be applicable to an adult child who is studying in a college or staying in hostel or a woman who has gone to some other district.”
Refuting the Opposition’s charge that the new law would usher in “police raj”, Kumar said any police or excise official, who even remotely tries to fix an innocent person, runs the risk of losing his/her job.
“Any officer who misuses this law will lose his job and will go to jail (for three years),” he added.
Earlier, the BJP, which protested the provision, moved an amendment, but it was defeated with 46 members supporting it, while 150 members from the ruling party were against it. Kumar later clarified that there was a 12% decline in criminal incidents in Bihar after the prohibition was imposed in April.
“In fact, now I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who supported prohibition when he was Gujarat chief minister) as to what his is stand on prohibition today and when he will ask the BJP-ruled Jharkhand to follow in Bihar’s footsteps,” said Kumar.
Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister: Any police or excise official, who even remotely tries to fix an innocent person, runs the risk of losing his/her job. Any officer who misuses this law will lose his job and will go to jail (for three years)