Defer enforcement of new booze law: BJP to Nitish

PATNA: The state BJP on Saturday suggested the Nitish Kumar government to defer enforcement of the revised Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act (BPEA) as it was highly probable that the Patna high court would quash even the new Act on the same grounds as it did on Friday if someone challenges it. The government is set to enforce the new Act from Sunday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
"I appeal to CM Nitish Kumar to defer the enforcement of BPEA for at least 10 days and find ways to amend the controversial provisions of the Act, which are draconian in nature," former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said, adding that CM Nitish could take the ordinance route to "amend the draconian provisions" of BPEA or convene an all-party meeting to discuss the issues involved for a consensus, and then convene a special session of the state legislature to make the required amendments before enforcing it.
"The government should not make it a prestige issue," Modi said, adding that the high court, while quashing the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, used the adjective "draconian" for its controversial provisions a dozen times.
The court has also noted that the provisions of Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act were akin to "converting Bihar into a police state, which it is not," and that its provisions militated against norms of any "civilised society" that cherishes "civil rights", Modi said, adding that even CM Nitish realised within six months of the imposition of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act that it could not be enforced in letter and spirit.
"The CM was waiting for an opportunity to pass the blame on somebody. Now that the high court has quashed the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, he can easily say that the prohibition law could not be imposed in the state due to the court order," Modi said, adding that it was under the pressure of former excise department principal secretary K K Pathak that the draconian prohibition law was framed.