Bihar liquor ban: 13,391 1st-time offenders freed in 3 months after paying fine

After the amendment to the Liquor Prohibition Act Bihar, the state police and Anti-Liquor Task Force (ALTF) have released 13,391 first-time offenders after they had paid the fine.

A total of 17,553 first-time offenders had been arrested.

The Liquor Amendment Bill was passed in March this year and was implemented from April 1.

In April, a total of 3,075 first-time offenders were arrested by the state police and ALTF under the Liquor Prohibition Amendment Act 37 of Bihar. Among those arrested, 1942 offenders paid the fine totalling Rs 52 lakh and were released on the direction of a special duty magistrate. The remaining 1,217 offenders were sent to jail for one month.

Similarly in May, the agencies arrested 5,827 persons and 4,747 were released after paying the fine amounting to Rs 1.39 crore.

In June, the Bihar Police and ALTF arrested 8,651 first-time offenders and 6,702 were released after paying the fine totalling Rs 2.60 crore.

The court has imposed a fine of Rs 2,000 to 5,000 depending on the situation. The first-time offenders paid Rs 2,677 on an average per person during the three months.

Liquor is banned in Bihar since April 2016 with severe punishment up to 10 year-jail term. As a large number of offenders were first-timers who were lodged in jails adding to the number of pending cases, which is more than three lakhs, the Nitish Kumar government eventually amended the Liquor Prohibition Act under Article 37. The first-time offenders after paying the fine of Rs 2,000 to 5,000 each at the police station in the presence of duty magistrate were released.

There is also a prohibition of one-month jail term in case the first-time offenders are unable to pay the fine.