Bihar liquor ban: Unusually high number of cases clogs court system

Satya Prakash
New Delhi, March 1

As the Patna High Court and the subordinate courts in Bihar remain clogged with bail pleas relating to violation of prohibition law, the Supreme Court has asked the state government to enlist measures taken to deal with an unusually high number of cases arising from the state’s liquor ban.

The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, and the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Amendment Act, 2018—which prohibit the manufacture, storage, distribution, transportation, possession, sale, purchase, and consumption of any intoxicant or liquor in the state—have resulted in the arrest of more than four lakh people in around 3.5 lakh cases.

“The trial court and the High Court are both being crowded by bail applications to an extent that at some stage 16 judges of the High Court are listening to bail matters and prosecutions under the Act concerned forms a large part of it. Denial of bail would also result in crowding of the prisons,” a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul noted.

“We would like to inquire as to what steps the State of Bihar is taking, having brought the law into force and what analysis took place before the law was brought into force in terms of the Court infrastructure required and the manpower required to deal with the litigation which would arise from such a statute,” the Bench said.

Issuing notice to the State of Bihar on petitions against the Patna High Court’s order refusing anticipatory bail to certain accused arrested for violation of the ban on liquor, the top court also sought to know if plea bargaining provisions could be taken recourse to deal with the emerging scenario in Bihar. It posted the matter for further hearing on March 8.

Earlier, a Bench led by CJI NV Ramana had rejected the state’s appeal against grant of anticipatory bail to some accused, saying the prohibition law was adversely impacting the functioning of the Patna High Court.

“It’s taking one year to get a matter listed…and all courts are choked with liquor bail matters. I have been told that 14-15 high court judges are hearing these bail matters every day and no other matters are being taken up,” it had noted.