After Patna HC blow, Nitish calls Cabinet meet on October 2

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has decided to summon a Cabinet meeting on October 2 to decide the future course of action regarding the prohibition law which was quashed by the Patna high court on Friday.

The state government, according to highly placed sources, has also decided to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court. According to additional advocate general Lalit Kishore, “We are studying the verdict right now but option of going to Supreme Court is always open”.

The high court verdict comes just days before the state government was to notify the stricter prohibition law in Bihar. The Nitish Kumar-led grand secular alliance government had passed the amended bill in the state Assembly.

The bill was termed as “draconian” by the Opposition. The bill was later approved by the state governor Ram Nath Kovind.

The new law, which was to be introduced in Bihar from October 2, has the provision to send family members of persons caught consuming or possessing liquor to jail for ten years.

There was already simmering discontent over the collective fines which were imposed on villages earmarked as prohibition-violators by the state administration and the excise department.

The court, in its verdict, said, “The April 5 notification is ultra vires to the Constitution and hence, not enforceable.”

According to senior high court lawyer Dinu Kumar, “This government gives incentives to the manufacturing companies but stops people from consuming and possessing liquor”.

Legal experts said that the state government has also not made any provision for workers who had lost their jobs after prohibition was imposed since April 5 2016.