Cabinet okays shorter jail terms for violating prohibition law

TIL Desk/National/Patna/ The Bihar cabinet on Wednesday approved amendments to the state’s stringent prohibition law, proposing a reduction in the quantum of sentence for those held guilty of violating the law.

Principal Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat department, Arun Kumar Singh said that at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a nod has been given for the proposed amendments to be tabled in the monsoon session of the state legislature scheduled later this month.

He, however, expressed his inability to divulge the contents of the proposed amendment bill. The state’s Advocate General Lalit Kishor later told a news channel, ‘the proposed amendments include a reduction in the quantum of punishment awarded to those involved in sale and manufacture of liquor as well as those consuming alcohol, including first time offenders’.

“Earlier, both the owner and the occupant of a property or vehicle from where liquor was seized were liable to be punished. The amendments propose shifting the onus primarily on the occupant,” he said.