But this is not the case with the Bihar chief minister, Nitish Kumar’s Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 amended by the Bihar Assembly on August 1, just 4 months after its passage. The law does not discriminate between the boozer and the innocent family members. According to the amended law all adults in a family liable to be imprisoned if even one person of the family drinks or keeps liquor at home. Of course the law empowers the Collector to extern a drinker for 6 months.

The most controversial provision is treating all members of the family guilty for the consumption and possession of liquor at home by any member of the family. The assumption is that all adults must be in the know, and must be held responsible until proven otherwise. It is incumbent upon homeowners to inform police if their tenants drink. A district Collector can impose a collective fine if a group in a village or town is a frequent offender.

Nitish clarified: “This provision has been made as it would serve as a deterrent. But let me clarify, that only those adult members who are present in the house at that time will be liable for prosecution. This law won’t be applicable to an adult child who is studying in a college or staying in hostel or a woman who has gone to some other district.” Fine.

But it is the women members who are always present in the house. Obviously in such cases they will be the first to be thrown to jail. What is really a matter of shame, Nitish is not concerned of the violation of the fundamental rights of innocent people. He would have to suffer to serve his whims and satisfy his inflated political ego. Criminalising large numbers of families, companies and communities who are not criminals today will significantly increase policing load. The US experiment with prohibition saw the rise of a black market in alcohol and gangsterism.

The most intriguing has been his expressing fear of being annihilated. It reminds of Indira Gandhi’s famous public lecture. The day before her death (30 October 1984) Indira Gandhi visited Orissa where she gave her last speech:”I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow...I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigourate India and strengthen it. Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.' Indira faced terrorist threat. But Nitish does not appear to face any such threat from any corner.

Obviously this raises question; why he uttered this sentence? He told the assembly “Even if I am annihilated, I will not compromise on the strict penal provisions incorporated in the new prohibition law”. In all fairness he must reveal the reasons for his apprehension.

This is not only a gimmick resorted to by Nitish, this underlines the nature and character of the politics he practices. It is beyond comprehension how could a leader claiming his ideological allegiance to the socialist politics, to Lohia and JP, dare to take to extrajudicial and tyrannical measures? Nitish must be aware of the machinations and tricks played by the police to fabricate false cases and implicate innocent people; what in common parlance is called “case connection”. How he could leave innocent people, especially the women, at the mercy of the police? Women are of no political importance to police.

Though Nitish in his speech on the bill in assembly was quite ebullient of his gains, he failed to spell out the check measures and how the police excesses be curbed. One thing Nitish must realize that he is not immortal and cannot continue to be the chief minister of Bihar till the state existed. Can he guarantee that in future the new incumbent chief minister would exercise restraint and ensure that the law is not misused?

In fact there is no denying the fact that the provisions of law would be misused by some over jealous police officials during his tenure too. This may sound to be exaggeration. But it remains a bitter truth. Since October 2015, after coming to power after assembly elections, Nitish held at least five meetings and interactions with the police officials and repeatedly cautioned them to behave in proper manner and ensure that law and order is strictly maintained. But unfortunately these exercises have failed to yield desired results. The police administration is behaving in the mot lackadaisical manner. It appears that the words and orders of the senior officials have no impact on the junior level officers. On some occasion even Nitish had to caution the junior officers. In this backdrop who can guarantee that these officers will not misuse the law to make ill-gotten fast buck?

Undeniably the worst sufferers would be the women, for enticing whom he came out with this law. We know police planting drugs, revolver and Maoist literature in the homes of poor, innocent and gullible people. While the police extracts bribe from these people and in most of the cases these people are imprisoned for years without proper trial. Can Nitish provide an undertaking to the people of Bihar that this will not happen?

Significantly his mission for total prohibition has the widest support, down to the level of the poorest Dalit in a Harijan ghetto. But the manner in which the ban is played up, clearly sends the message that he intends to use it to build his image of a hard task master; an idea borrowed from the postures of Narendra Modi.

A new excise bill in Bihar that will add more teeth to the state’s crackdown on alcohol may have to face a legal test sooner than expected. But going by the mannerism and public posture of Nitish it is candid clear that he is waiting for such an opportunity where he put the blame on the judiciary for his inability to hasten up the development work for the poor. With the Lok Sabha elections in sight in 2019, Nitish will use the entire weapon available to him for boosting his image and reach.

Quite interestingly the copy of the amended bill was handed over to the legislators just before it was introduced on the opening day of the Bihar assembly’s monsoon session. The MLAs were asked to suggest their amendments. A significant number of legislators cutting across the party line described the proposed law as draconian.

On his part Nitish tried to come out with a strong defence. But it lacks reliability. He said: “If any instance of harassment of innocent people comes to light, the erring officials would face four types of action. There will be action against the anti-corruption law as well as departmental proceedings. It may lead to three-year jail and in proven cases sacking from service”.

Certainly his sincerity should not be questioned. But the fact cannot be ignored by the time the harassment would come to his knowledge the family would have been ruined; their prestige have been decimated and annihilated. In Bihari society, going to jail is a shame. What an irony, Nitish coolly ignored the issue of tremendous increase in bootlegging. (IPA Service)