People caught drinking or drunk in dry Bihar will be released on paying a small fine. They will not go to jail. Moreover, there is hope for the people who are already in jail. They could be free soon.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar’s government has decided to ease the draconian provisions of the prohibition law. It will bring the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

The amendment will come into effect immediately after being approved by the governor, and all its clauses will apply with retrospective effect to the pending cases too.

“Those caught drunk will be produced before the nearest executive magistrate and will be released after realising fine from them. The state government will fix the amount of the fine from time to time,” prohibition, excise and registration minister Sunil Kumar told The Telegraph.

The minister also pointed out that there would be no discrimination between the first time offender and those violating the liquor ban multiple times because there was no system in place to identify how many times a person has flouted prohibition.

“However, repeat offenders caught and easily recognised by the enforcement authorities could be sent to jail,” Sunil added.

People unable to pay the fine for having been caught under the influence of liquor will be handed over an imprisonment of one month.

The collector or the district magistrate will have the power to release the vehicles, animals, utensils, or premises seized by police in cases of flouting of prohibition on the payment of fine, the amount of which will be prescribed by the government from time to time.

After the amendment, the state government will appoint executive magistrates in consultation with Patna High Court. They would be able to summarily dispose of cases pertaining to liquor consumption, and will use the powers of a second-class judicial magistrate for this purpose.

The implications of this amendment will be huge in the state. The implementation of its clauses with retrospective effect means that people arrested and jailed for consuming liquor could be free after paying the stipulated fine.

At present several thousand people are languishing in prisons on the charges of flouting prohibition, especially drinking liquor.

The provisions for summary disposal of liquor consumption cases after imposing a fine, a month of simple jail term for not paying it, along with the state government’s intention to use deputy collector-rank officers as executive magistrates for the purpose will lessen the burden of the prohibition law on the judiciary. Currently over 3.5 lakh cases related to prohibition are pending in courts in Bihar.

The situation in the Patna High Court is such that around 15 judges are engaged in hearing cases pertaining to flouting of the liquor ban.

A bunch of cases challenging the liquor ban are pending in the Supreme Court. Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana and other justices have repeatedly criticised the Bihar prohibition law for its “lack of foresight” that has clogged the Patna High Court.