The Bihar Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Bill 2016 to enforce the ban on countrymade liquor from April 1. The 1915 liquor Bill was amended to incorporate stricter penal provisions, including death sentence, for manufacturers and distributors of illicit liquor in the event of a hooch tragedy. In a rare show of solidarity, all MLAs including Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar rose from their seats and resolved that they won’t drink and would discourage others from doing so. Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Health Minister Tej Pratap Yadav were not present in the House. The CM said: “Our experts decided to make the provisions stricter. But we have also taken a humanitarian view with the compensation provision for a victim of hooch tragedy”.
