Bihar: Liquor smuggling accused gets bail on condition that he sponsors education of 5 children for 3 months

A district court at Jhanjharpur in Bihar’s Madhubani district granted bail to a man accused of liquor smuggling on the condition that he sponsors the education of five poor children for three months. Additional Sessions Court Judge Avinash Kumar also directed the man to strictly follow the state’s liquor prohibition law, Bar and Bench reported.

The man, identified as Nitish Kumar, was arrested in November, last year, after an FIR was filed against him under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. The court ordered the families of the five children to furnish certificates at the end of the three-month period, confirming that Kumar paid their child’s school fees.

Kumar was arrested after a watchman filed a complaint against him for smuggling liquor. As per the complaint, the watchman said he had been tipped off about liquor being smuggled in a Scorpio SUV and bike near Pachahi village. When he arrived at the scene and tried to stop the smugglers, they had already fled.

The Liquor Prohibition Act was first enforced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in April 2016. Despite strict punishment, liquor smuggling, sale and consumption is frequent in Bihar.