Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday dismissed the argument that imposition of the total prohibition impinged on fundamental right of citizens and pointed to the directive principle to justify the ban on alcohol in the state.
A few persons in urban areas questioned prohibition, saying how come the state was concerned what a citizen eats or drinks, Kumar said at a function in Saharsa. But, consumption of liquor cannot be the fundamental right of a citizen.
"Article 47 of the Constitution gives direction that the state should protect health and nutrition of its citizen and strive to achieve total prohibition," he said, to justify his government's April 5 decision to put a complete ban on alcohol, country, spiced and Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL).
"The Supreme Court has said in its order that connection with liquor and intoxicants cannot be fundamental right of anybody," Kumar said. "Liquor does not come under the purview of Article 19 of the Constitution providing fundamental right to citizens," he said.
JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar during his trip to Patna on Saturday and Sunday had touched on the subject saying prohibition across country was not possible because freedom to eat or drink is a fundamental right. Many others have also put forward this argument during tv debates on channels.
Claiming good results in the wake of the decision to stop sale and consumption of alcohol in Bihar, Kumar said, the "crime rate has gone down" and so has instances of road accidents.
Addressing a gathering during a function of women's self-help group 'Jeevika', the chief minister exhorted women to destroy liquor manufacturing outlets for which the state government would provide all assistance.
Kumar said prohibition has taken shape of a social revolution and pointed to the voice being raised against consumption of alcohol in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha, among other places.
Meanwhile, Kumar on Tuesday wrote a fresh letter to his counterparts in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh Raghubar Das and Akhilesh Yadav respectively seeking their assistance in successful implementation of total prohibition in area of Bihar sharing boundary with their states. It was disclosed by Assistant Commissioner Excise and Prohibition Satyendra Kumar Sinha.
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