BackBihar moves SC against Patna HC ruling against liquor prohibition law
The Patna HC had struck down the Bihar government's notification that sought to bring a complete prohibition in the state, terming it 'quite unreasonable and draconian'
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New Delhi: The Bihar government moved the Supreme Court on Monday against the Patna high court ruling striking down the state’s liqour prohibition law.
On 30 September, the Patna high court had struck down the state government’s notification that sought to bring a complete prohibition in the state, terming it “quite unreasonable and draconian" and said it can be justified in a police state and not in a civilized society.
“The consequence of the high court ruling is that the bonafide efforts of Bihar to bring complete prohibition of liquor in the State of Bihar in performance of its constitutional obligations under the Directive Principle of State Policy has been frustrated," the state said in its affidavit, a copy of which Mint has seen.
A division bench comprising Patna high court chief justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and justice Navaniti Prasad Singh also held said the penal provisions of prison sentences, collective fines on entire villages or towns and provisions for confiscation of property under the 5 April notification as “arbitrary and unconstitutional".
Also Read: Nitish Kumar issues new liquor law with harsher provisions
Just two days after the law was struck down, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, banning sale and consumption of alcohol including Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) as well as spiced and domestic liquor. The new law has harsher punishment for possession and consumption of alcohol.
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