MP Cabinet okays death penalty for hooch cases

Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday cleared the draft proposal of the State Excise Amendment Act, 2021 providing capital punishment and life imprisonment in the cases related to deaths caused by spurious liquor.

Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country to formulate a law providing death and life sentences for the illicit liquor trade, state home minister Narottam Mishra said in his postCabinet briefing to the reporters here.

The proposed Bill, scheduled to be placed in the coming monsoon session of the Assembly for its passage, comes in the wake of the death of 50 people in hooch tragedies occurred at different places in the state in the past one and half years.

Besides, provision of a penalty of `20 lakh has been made in the draft proposal in cases related to deaths due to consumption of the adulterated liquor.

The existing law provides imprisonment up to five years to maximum ten years and a penalty of `10 lakhs in cases related to deaths by spurious liquor.

In cases of physical harm done by consumption of spurious liquor, the draft bill provides ten years to a maximum of 14 years imprisonment as against the existing provision of six years imprisonment.

In case of seizures of illicit liquor, the prison term has been increased up to six to ten years from the present six months to four years.

The draft law also held the distilleries accountable for the spurious liquor trade in the area.

It also held that attack on excise officials would be a non-bailable offence.