‘Liquor ban means big money for officials’ – Patna HC pulls up state over Bihar’s prohibition law

“Innovative ideas to hoodwink instrumentality enforcing agencies person evolved to transportation and present the contraband. Not lone the constabulary officials (and) excise officials, but besides officers of the authorities taxation section and the transport section emotion the liquor prohibition — for them it means large money,” the Single Bench said.

The court’s observations were successful effect to a petition by Khagaria nonmigratory Mukesh Kumar Paswan, who was suspended arsenic inspector of Bypass Police Station, Patna, successful November 2020 aft a stash of liquor was recovered successful a raid by the authorities excise department.

The Patna HC quashed the suspension bid against Paswan by calling it an “infringement of earthy justice”. At the aforesaid time, the Bench said the authorities authorities had been incapable to decently instrumentality Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 – the instrumentality that governs liquor prohibition successful the state.

“I find it due to grounds present that the Article 47 of the Constitution of India, portion (sic) mandating the work of the authorities to rise standards of surviving and to amended the nationalist wellness astatine ample and arsenic specified the authorities authorities enacted Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 with the said objective, but for respective reasons, it finds itself connected the incorrect broadside of the history,” it said.

According to the court, less cases are registered against kingpin and syndicate operators successful specified cases of contravention successful examination to the “magnitude of the cases registered against the mediocre who devour liquor and those mediocre radical and are prey of hooch tragedy”.

“The beingness of the bulk of the mediocre conception of the authorities who are facing the wrath of the Act are regular wagers who are lone earning members of their family. The Investigating Officer deliberately does not substantiate the allegations made successful the prosecution lawsuit by immoderate ineligible papers and specified lacunae are near and the aforesaid allows the mafia (to get away) scot-free successful privation of grounds by not conducting search, seizure and probe successful accordance with law,” the tribunal said.

An authoritative from the state’s prohibition section said it was “improper to respond to the tribunal ruling” but besides admitted that the Bench had raised immoderate “valid queries and concerns”.

“It’s pugnacious to instrumentality liquor instrumentality successful a authorities with 13 crore radical and lone 1.4 lakh policemen, who besides person different things to do. The liquor instrumentality has seen 3 amendments due to the fact that it had immoderate inherent follies,” the authoritative said.