New Delhi:
It seems that the Bihar government wants to make sure that liquor ban must be implemented with full strictness beyond state’s geographical lines as it has banned the state administrative and judicial officials to consume alcohol in any party of the world.
The Nitish Kumar government has brought an amendment in the Bihar Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1976, and approved the Bihar Judicial Officers Conduct Rules, 2017, to restrict government and judicial officers from consuming alcohol even outside the state.
The new ruling would also apply to UPSC officers serving in the state as well as Bihar cadre officers on deputation to the Centre.
According to a leading daily, the legal opinion on the matter is that the executives have power, within the jurisdiction, to impose such a ban, but it would become preposterous in such a scenario.
The liquor ban would hit the state’s revenue collections as the state had witnessed overall tax revenue of R20,750 crore in FY15 from booze.
Nitish Kumar had argued that liquor ban would see a drop in crimes and road mishaps, but a January 2017 IndiaSpend analysis rejected his claims after witnessing a rise of 13% in such incidents.
