THE BIHAR PROHIBITION AND EXCISE (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2022

Bihar Act 03, 2022

1st April 2022

TO AMEND THE BIHAR PROHIBITION AND EXCISE ACT, 2016. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Bihar in the Seventy-Third year of the Republic of India as follows:-

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S.1 Short title, extent and commencement.

• (1) This Act may be called the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
• (2) It shall extend to the whole State of Bihar.
• (3) It shall come into force at once and the provision of this Amendment Act shall apply to all pending cases.

S.2 Insertion of new sub-section (26A) after sub-section (26) of section-2 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

A new sub-section (26A) after sub-section (26) of section-2 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be inserted as under: -

"(26A) "exhibit" means any document, record, object, photograph, animation or any other item having evidentiary value, which is required to be formally produced in a court of law, and includes such electronic images like videography, drone images etc of such document, record, object, photograph, animation or item."

S.3 Amendment to clause sub-section (69) of section-2 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

In the sub-section (69) of section-2 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, the words "or unfermented" shall be deleted.

S.4 Substitution of section-37 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Section-37 (Penalty for consumption of liquor) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, as further amended by Act, 8 of 2018, shall be substituted by the following:-

"37- Penalty for consumption of liquor –

• (1) Whoever, in contravention of this Act or the rules, notification or order made there under consumes liquor or intoxicant at any place or is found drunk or found under influence of any intoxicant, within any premises or outside, shall be arrested immediately and produced before the nearest Executive Magistrate. He shall however be released if he pays a penalty as may be notified by the State Government. Failure to pay such penalty shall invite a simple imprisonment of one month. Any intoxicant found in his possession shall be seized and destroyed as per section-57.
  Provided that, in case of repeat offenders, the State Government may, by notification, prescribe additional penalty or imprisonment or both.
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S.5 Deletion of Sub-Section (2) of section-39 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Sub-Section (2) of Section-39 (Penalty for consumption of liquor in chemist's shop) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be deleted.

S.6 Deletion of section-55 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

section-55 (Non compounding of offences) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be deleted.

S.7 Substitution of section-56 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Section-56 (Things liable for confiscation) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, as further amended by Act, 8 of 2018, shall be substituted by the following:-

"56- Confiscation of Seized Items:-

• (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section-57B, whenever an offence punishable under this Act, is committed, the Collector or an officer authorized by him may confiscate such items based on the report of the investigating officer.
• (2) Such items may include –
  • (i) any premises or part thereof;
  • (ii) any animal, vehicle, vessel or conveyance;
  • (iii) any liquor or intoxicant;
  • (iv) any other item having bearing with the case;
  Provided, where things as mentioned in section-57 are to be destroyed, then the Collector or an officer authorized by him need not confiscate the same before their destruction.
• (3) The State Government may issue necessary direction, guidelines,
  

S.8 Substitution of section-57 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Section-57 (Power of Collector, etc., to order sale or destruction of articles before confiscation) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following:-

"57- Certain things liable to be destroyed- The Collector or an officer authorized by him, may, in the manner provided under section-57A, destroy certain items that have been seized by any excise officer or police officer, if in his opinion, these items are liable to be misused or endangering public safety or occupying public space. These items are:-

• (a) any intoxant or liquor;
• (b) any material, utensil, implement, apparatus, package or covering etc containing such intoxant or liquor;
• (c) any other item of trifling value or liable for speedy or natural decay."

S.9 Insertion of a new section-57A after section-57 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

A new section -57A shall be inserted after section -57 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as under:-

"57A- Destruction of seized Items, particularly Intoxicants-

• (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section -451 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (Act 2 of 1974), the Collector or an officer authorized by him shall have the power to order destruction of seized items, particularly intoxicants, if, in his opinion, the seized items or intoxicants are liable to be misused or are occupying public places endangering public safety.
• (2) The Collector or the officer authorized by him may order the destruction even in cases where the confiscation proceeding under section -58 or the trial by the Special Court has not concluded. Such destruction shall be ordered on the basis of the report of the Investigation Officer who shall, while asking for the destruction of the seized intoxicants, include the result of the chemical examination.
• (3) The
  

S.10 Insertion of a new section-57B of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

A new Section-57B of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be inserted after section-57A of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as under:-

"57B- Things or premises liable to be released upon penalty-

• (1) Any animal, vehicle, vessel or other conveyance used for committing any offence punishable under this Act that has been seized by any police Officer or Excise Officer may be released by the Collector upon payment of such penalty as may be notified by the State Government.
• (2) Any premises or part thereof used for committing any offence punishable under this Act that has been seized by any police Officer or Excise Officer may be released by the Collector upon payment of such penalty as may be notified by the State Government.
• (3) If the person concerned does not pay the penalty, then the Collector shall proceed to confiscate the said animal, vehicle, vessel or other conveyance and premises as per section -58.
  [Explanatio
  
  

S.11 Substitution of section-62 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Section- 62 (Premises liable to be sealed), of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, as further amended by Act, 8 of 2018, shall be substituted by the following:-

"62- Premises liable to be sealed- If it comes to the notice of any excise officer or any police officer, not below the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector, that any liquor or intoxicant has been found at a particular premises or a part thereof or that particular premises or a part thereof has been used for committing any offence under this Act, he may immediately seal the said premises or a part thereof and send a report to the Collector for the confiscation of the same.

Provided that if the said premises are temporary structures which cannot be effectively sealed, then the excise officer or the police officer, with the order of the Collector, may demolish such temporary structures."

S.12 Deletion of section-67, section-68, section-69, section-70, section-71 and section-72 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

The section-67 (Extension of period of order), section-68 (Permission to return temporarily), section-70 (Immediate arrest), section-71 (Penalty for non-compliance of order under section-66) and section-72 (Powers in relation to absconding person) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be deleted.

S.13 Insertion of a new section-75A after section-75 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

A new section-75A shall be inserted after section-75 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as under:-

"75A- Reports to be Public Documents- Any report under this Act, whether filed in physical form or through electronic online mechanism, particularly those related to chemical examination, shall be treated as a public document under section-74 of Indian Evidence Act 1872 (Act 1 of 1872)."

S.14 Substitution of section-80 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

Section-80 (Production of Persons arrested) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following:-

S.80 Production of Persons arrested

(1) Any person arrested under this Act shall be produced before the Special Court or the nearest Judicial Magistrate within 24 hours either in person or through the medium of electronic video linkage.

[Explanation: - If any question arises whether an accused person was produced in person or through the medium of electronic video linkage before the court, the production of the accused person may be proved by his signature on the order authorizing his detention or by video recording of the proceeding, as the case may be.]

(2) While seeking the custody of the arrested persons, it shall not be necessary to produce before the Magistrate all the items or intoxicants seized. The concerned Excise officer or police officer may bring the electronic evidence of such seizures.

S.15 Substitution of section-81 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016

Section-81 (Duty of police to accept seized articles and arrested persons) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following: -

"81- Custody of Arrested Persons, Seized Articles and Chemical Examination-

(1) Till such time as the Special Court or the Judicial Magistrate commits the arrested person(s) to judicial custody or the police custody, the arrested person shall be kept in the safe custody by the concerned excise officer or the police officer.

(2) In case of seized articles including intoxicants, the concerned excise officer or the police officer shall draw a seizure list. The said seizure list shall be treated as an exhibit, be admissible as a public document under section-74 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872 (Act 1 of 1872) and shall constitute the evidence for the purpose of trial. Immediately thereafter, the officer concerned shall make an application before the Collector for destruction or confiscation, as the case may be

S.16 Insertion of a new section-81A after section-81 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016

A new section-81A shall be inserted after section -81 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 as under:-

"81A- Seized Article when may be destroyed on site- Where it is not possible to secure the safe custody of the seized articles or intoxicants due to challenges of terrain and transportation or where such seized articles or intoxicants cannot be effectively secured at the site of their seizure, the concerned police officer or excise officer may, without the orders of the Special Court or the Collector, destroy all the quantity at the site itself, while retaining a small sample.

Provided that the officer destroying seized articles shall retain electronic evidence like videography or drone images of such destruction and submit a report to the Collector and the Special Court with full justification. The said report shall be treated as an exhibit, be admissible as a public document under section-74 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872 (Act 1 of 1872) and shall constitute t

S.17 Substitution of section-83 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016

Section-83 (Trial by the Court) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following:-

"83- Special Court(s)-

(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in section-76 of this Act, all offences punishable under this Act, except the offences under section-37, shall be tried by Special Court(s) which may be presided by Sessions Judge, Additional Sessions Judge, Assistant Sessions Judge or Judicial Magistrate.

[Explanation- All existing cases in the Special Courts, where the offence is reported under section-37 only and no other section of this Act or any other Act, shall be transferred from the Special Courts to the Court of the District Magistrate in a manner prescribed by the State Government. Where persons arrested under such cases are still in jail, they shall be released if they have completed the period of imprisonment as mentioned in section-37.]

(2) These Judges shall be appointed by the State Government in consultation with t

S.18 Substitution of section-84 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016

Section-84 (Special Courts) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following:-

"84- Trial by Special Courts -

(1) All Special Courts shall be exclusive and shall only try offences under this Act.

(2) The trial under this Act of any offence by the Special Court shall have precedence over the trial of any other case against the accused in any other Court (not being a Special Court) and shall be concluded in preference to the trial of such other case.

(3) All trials and proceedings under the Bihar Excise Act, 1915 (Bihar & Orissa Act II of 1915), pending in any other Court, before the commencement of this Act, shall stand transferred to the Special Courts.

(4) Special Court shall complete the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the date of submission of the chargesheet."

S.19 Substitution of sub-section (3) of section-91 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016

Sub-section (3) of Section-91 (Procedure for launching Prosecution) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 shall be substituted by the following:-

"(3) In cases where offences are punishable with death or imprisonment for a term not less than 10 years, he shall, after the investigation, file a report within 90 days from the date of the registration of the case. In all other cases, he shall file the report within 60 days from the date of the registration of the case."

Jyoti Swaroop Srivastava, Secretary incharge to the Government.