Bihar CM rules out review of liquor law, says it has no lacuna

In an apparent rebuff to state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Sanjay Jaiswal’s demand for a review of the prohibition law, Bihar minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that there was no lacuna in the act and those questioning it were free to do so

In an apparent rebuff to state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Sanjay Jaiswal’s demand for a review of the prohibition law, Bihar minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that there was no lacuna in the act and those questioning it were free to do so.

Image for representation. (File photo)

Talking to media persons after the customary Janata Darbar—a weekly event where people interact with the CM and seek a solution to their issues—Kumar said he hardly cared about what others say about the law.

“There is no flaw in the prohibition act. People strongly protested the government’s bid to allow the sale of Indian foreign-made liquor (IMFL) through certain corporations after banning the country liquor and did not let the shops of foreign liquors be open, forcing the government to announce the complete ban in the next four days,” Kumar recalled.

Jaiswal had questioned the efficiency of the liquor law and asked for a thorough review of the act, alleging that the condition of his constituency in West Champaran was miserable owing to rampant availability of liquor in connivance with the police and administrative officials. Jaiswal expressed his anguish over blatant breach of the law and deaths of over 40 persons due to consumption of spurious liquor in five districts recently.

The CM said, “some people” were indulging in creating a wrong impression about Bihar. The Majority of people are good here and are in favour of continuing with the ban. There are certain elements, who can’t be corrected. “Mahatma Gandhi came to Champaran in Bihar and launched the freedom movement, which spread across the country with great intensity and saw the country attaining its Independence in 30 years,” said Kumar, underlining the importance of Bihar for being a pioneer state for social reforms.

To buttress his argument in support of the law, the CM claimed that crime had come down after the liquor ban. “Law and order have improved after 2016 since the prohibition law came into force. Road accidents and casualty came down outstandingly,” said Kumar, adding that every act of the administration would be reviewed concerning the instructions passed from time to time to the police to enforce the ban on Tuesday.

In a veiled remark against Opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s frequent attack on him, Kumar said some people were in the habit of remaining in the news by criticising him. He also refused to comment on actor Kangana Ranaut’s assertion that the country got real freedom post-2014 and the one attained in 1947 was begged and said such people needed to be mocked at.