Problems with Nitish Kumar’s alcohol regulations? New Changes Appear The alcohol ban in Bihar could have been too strict

Is the cost of the 50% insurance too much to bear? Not to worry. Now, if you are found transporting alcohol in your automobile in Bihar, you just need to pay 10% of the insurance value to bring your car back home.

To make things clearer, if a vehicle containing alcohol was impounded and its insurance worth was Rs. 4 lakh, the owner would have to pay Rs. 2 lakh to get it freed. The revised Liquor Prohibition Policy, 2016, states that one may now pay Rs 40,000 and return the car to their house, nonetheless.

After a cabinet meeting for consideration, the adjustment was made. “One can now get their vehicle released by paying authorities concerned just 10% of the insurance cover up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, after following standard judicial process,” Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) S Siddharth told reporters.

Over 50,000 four-wheelers are reportedly accumulating dust in the state’s 800 police stations. In the lack of care and maintenance, the cars have corroded or malfunctioned.

In accordance with additional regulations modified since April 2022, a first-time drinker who is arrested may escape punishment by paying between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000. Prior to that, mandatory incarceration was allowed.

Additionally, the state government will provide the family of the dead with Rs 4 lakh in compensation if someone passes away as a result of consuming fake alcohol in the state. All they need to do is inform the district magistrate in writing that they agree with the chief minister’s prohibition policy and that the death was caused by alcohol drinking. Earlier, Kumar had rejected offers of money, stating emphatically that “those who drink will die…”

If found guilty by the court, frequent drinkers/offenders will now serve five years instead of ten.

An executive magistrate not below the level of Deputy Collector must conduct a summary trial to determine the disposition of every offense heard by trial courts. This should clear up Bihar’s overloaded courts.

The Bihar liquor legislation was cited as an example of “lack of foresight” in December 2021 by the then Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, who said that it caused the high court to be “clogged with bail applications…a simple bail application takes a year to be disposed of.”

There have been questions about the changes within a year. It is unclear whether Kumar, who is still adamant about the prohibition, really cares about the mistreatment of women by their intoxicated husbands or if he has made the issue about pride in implementing a legislation that he believes would benefit Bihar’s underprivileged households. The Pasi community has organized a large protest march through the state capital Patna to call for the lifting of the state’s prohibition on toddy.

Women have led attacks on police officers during excise searches in communities on several occasions. On social media, there are videos of women throwing bricks and stones at police officers who were trying to raid or detain booze dealers in the interior of Bihar.

The state has been dealing with a number of problems in recent years, including an increase in illegal commerce, bootlegging, fatalities from drinking alcohol, disproportionate arrests, and smuggling from neighboring states. The courts in Bihar are overrun with over 3.7 lakh cases, while the state’s jails are overcrowded with over 25,000 convictions. Over 50,000 seized automobiles are rotting away at 800 police stations throughout the state, according to the proposed amendment.

The restriction has also had an impact on tourism, with hotel operators stating that their industry is suffering as visitors migrate to neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand after visiting destinations.

Although Kumar’s intentions may be good, the policy’s execution undoubtedly has problems. The excise agency has often been charged for persecuting the poor and the disadvantaged while having connections to booze dealers on the other side. The police force is also charged of accepting bribes and monthly payments from powerful alcohol lobby groups.

After numerous women said at a demonstration in 2016 that the males in the household spent all income on booze and battered them, Kumar implemented the policy banning alcohol. A portion of the population says that alcohol is freely accessible and available for home delivery in every district of Bihar as of the seventh year. Only the price of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL), which is now 2-3 times more expensive, has altered, but individuals continue to purchase illicit alcohol from states like UP, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and even Arunachal Pradesh. Many experts believe that the alcohol prohibition should be reviewed since it is harsh and counterproductive.