Supreme Court stays Patna HC order declaring liquor ban in Bihar unlawful

Last Friday, the Patna High Court had struck down the Bihar Prohibition of Liquor Act, calling it illegal.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Patna High Court order striking down the liquor ban in Bihar.

Last Friday, the Patna High Court had struck down the Bihar Prohibition of Liquor Act, calling it illegal.

Following the Patna High Court judgement, the Bihar government had instituted an even more stringent law banning liquor consumption in the state, and had approached the Supreme Court.

The Bihar government had instituted a tough prohibition law starting April 1 this year. Country-made liquor was banned, and then the ban was extended to Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).

But the Nitish Kumar government went even further and introduced a provision in the law that allows action against all adult members of a family if liquor is found on their premises or one of them is suspected to have consumed it.

A division bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Iqbal Ahmed Ansari and Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh of the Patna High Court quashed the April 5 notification of the state government to stop consumption and sale of alcohol in the state. The April 5 notification is ultra vires to the Constitution, hence not enforceable, the court said in its verdict.

The same bench had on May 20 reserved its order on a batch of writ petitions filed by Liquor Trade Association and many individuals challenging the liquor law in Bihar brought by Nitish Kumar government with stringent penal provisions.