Now Bihar govt. says there’s no toddy ban

July 31, 2016 02:01 am | Updated October 18, 2016 02:58 pm IST - Patna:

The Bihar government on Saturday said there would be no ban on the sale and consumption of toddy — “as of now.”

It was only on Friday that State Excise and Prohibition Minister Abdul Jalil Mastan had told journalists that “like liquor, there would be prohibition on toddy as well and anybody caught selling or consuming toddy would be punished under law.” He did a flip-flop on Saturday, emphasising that “there would be no ban on toddy as of now”.

What happened in 24 hours that prompted the Nitish Kumar government to roll back its decision to bring toddy under prohibition?

Sources in the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the key member of the ruling coalition, told The Hindu that it was under the pressure of party chief Lalu Yadav that the government changed its stand.

They said there was a meeting of Grand Alliance legislators at the official residence of chief minister, 1 Anne Marg, late on Friday night in which RJD legislators “vehemently” opposed the government’s move to ban toddy in the State.

Later at the meeting, the Chief Minister explained to the legislators the amendments in the State Excise Bill 2016. So far, the court has granted bail to those caught under the new excise law due to certain loopholes, but the government has now decided to plug them to make the law more stringent.

The amendments, which will be tabled and debated in the State Assembly on Monday, provide for the arrest of all adult members of a family in case alcohol is found in the house. “If anything — liquid or solid — including liquor, ganja (marijuana), bhang (cannabis), drugs, narcotics is found in a house of any householder/ resident… all the family members above the age of 18 would be liable for the offence and would be prosecuted under the relevant sections of the law,” said the proposed bill, which runs to 45 pages with about 100 clauses. The proposed bill provides for minimum punishment of 10 years in jail and maximum of a life term with minimum fine of Rs. 1 lakh which could go up to Rs 10 lakh.

Opposition parties termed the amendments “draconian”. “The BJP is opposed to the draconian provisions of the bill… Even possessing eatables — grapes and jaggery — and non-eatable items that can be used to produce liquor will be an offence,” said senior State BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.

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