An entire village in Bihar's Sheikhpura district will be fined for brewing country liquor, after residents continued to defy the state government's total ban on alcohol. Three raids were conducted in the Dadhi Tola village in 10 days, located about 100 kilometres from the state capital of Patna, reported The Telegraph, but the residents continued to produce country liquor as it has been their profession for the past two decades.
But the district administration is having none of it.
In a first-of-its-kind measure, it would impose collective fine on all residents of the village, even those who aren't currently living in the village.
"We are invoking provisions already laid down in the Act to act as a deterrent," the Excise superintendent Vikesh Kumar told The Telegraph. While officials did not say how much the penalty would be, they claimed that it would be a "long-drawn" process.
Similar action may also be taken in two other villages in Bihar, according to the report.
The Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016, was passed on Monday by the Bihar state assembly. The new law is much more strict and can punish all adults in a household if liquor is found in their house. The ban comes after chief minister Nitish Kumar acceded to the demands of his huge voter base of women.
