‘Dry’ Bihar plans Aadhaar verification to turn heat on ‘habitual drinkers’

At present, most of the people caught drinking claim they have violated the prohibition law for the first time and have to be let off on payment of fine of ₹2,000-5,000.

In a bid to crack down on habitual drinkers, Bihar, which imposed total liquor ban in April 2016, plans to go for Aadhaar-based authentication of the violators so that repeat offenders are not let off with a mere fine, as provisioned for the first-time offenders in the amended prohibition law, a senior excise department official familiar with the matter said.

Seized liquor bottles being destroyed in Patna. (HT)

The state’s excise and prohibition department would soon start setting up Aadhaar-based verification centres at the district level for the purpose. “The department has recently received the approval from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to set up the Aadhaar verification centres at the district level,” said an official of the deputy commissioner rank.

At present, most of the people caught drinking claim they have violated the prohibition law for the first time and have to be let off on payment of fine of ₹2,000-5,000.

“In the absence of readily available valid proof, the accused get away with the minimal penalty under the fresh provisions of the Prohibition Act, which was amended in April this year. Under the new provision, first-time consumers of liquor are released from the magistrate’s court instantly on payment of penalty of ₹2,000-5,000,” said the official.

“The UIDAI system will likely be installed at the district level by the end of November. Biometric details of each lawbreaker would be captured for future reference. The system would help the department track records of the habitual consumers,” said the official.

“Currently, most of the accused dodge the officials by furnishing fake names and addresses. Records of the police stations, too, are not readily available for verification. It takes months to verify documents and addresses by the police stations,” the official said.