In an unprecedented move reflecting the mounting pressure on Bihar’s criminal justice system, a single-judge Bench of the Patna High Court granted bail in 463 cases in a single day, most of them linked to violations under the state’s liquor prohibition law.
Court officials said this was the highest number of bail orders passed in one day by a single judge of the High Court.
The cases were heard by Justice R P Mishra, before whom 508 matters were listed on Monday. Of these, 33 were adjourned, bail was rejected in 12 cases and granted in the remaining 463.
Small seizures, no criminal history
According to lawyers present during the hearing, the majority of cases involved consumption or seizure of small quantities of liquor, typically ranging from one bottle (750 ml) to two or three bottles. Most of the accused had no criminal antecedents and had already spent several days in custody.
A senior advocate at the Patna High Court told The Indian Express that liquor-related cases were clubbed together and categorised based on the quantity seized and the background of the accused.
“As cases were taken up one by one, the court granted bail where the accused had clean records. Bail was denied only in cases involving serious criminal antecedents,” the advocate said.
While granting bail, Justice Mishra observed that the “poor implementation of the liquor law has increased the pendency of bail matters in court.”
Additional public prosecutors said the court expressed concern over longer periods of imprisonment for individuals arrested for possession of minor quantities of alcohol.
Liquor law clogging courts and prisons
Government data highlights the scale of the problem. As of January 19, Bihar’s 60 jails house 50,573 inmates, of whom 10,402 were booked under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
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Officials said nearly 13,000 bail pleas related to liquor cases are currently pending before lower courts and the Patna High Court.
The issue has drawn judicial scrutiny earlier as well. In December, former Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had remarked at a seminar in Vijayawada that Bihar’s liquor law was “short-sighted and lacked foresight”, referring to the burden it placed on courts. Following that observation, the Bihar government diluted several stringent provisions of the law.
Since the enforcement of prohibition in April 2016, Bihar Police and the Excise Department have registered 9.36 lakh cases and arrested over 14 lakh people under the liquor law.
