PATNA: Over 6.40 lakh people have been convicted under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, since its enforcement, with courts awarding death sentences to nine offenders, life imprisonment to 18, and jail terms exceeding 10 years to 222 others.
Additional Director General (ADG), Prohibition, Amit Kumar Jain revealed to the media on Tuesday that a total of 6,40,379 individuals have been convicted by respective courts for violating the prohibition law in the state ever since it came into force on April 1, 2016.
ADG said that a whopping 6,38,574 individuals have been held guilty under section 37 (for consuming liquor or creating nuisance at a public place under the influence of liquor), and the remaining 1,805 have been convicted under section 30 (manufacture, sale, storage and transportation) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016.
Among the 1,805 held guilty under section 30, 18 individuals have been sentenced to undergo life imprisonment, 222 to more than 10 years, 935 between two years and 10 years, while 621 individuals have been awarded sentence for less than two years, ADG said.
A total of 10,85,951 cases have been registered under the new Prohibition and Excise Act between April 1, 2016 and July 3, 2025 across the state. Of them, 4,16,081 cases have been registered by state Excise department and 5,59,870 cases by state police.
According to official figures, 5,36,921 cases have been registered under section 37 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, while 4,49,030 cases have been lodged under section 30 of the Act.
While section 37 of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act deals with the consumption of alcohol, section 30 of the Act deals with liquor used for other purposes such as sale, storage, manufacture and transportation.
Since January this year, 63,442 individuals have been arrested on the charges of consuming liquor or being involved in the illegal trade of manufacture and sale of the banned commodity. Of them, 38,781 have been arrested for consuming alcohol while 24,701 have been booked for being involved in bootlegging and other illegal activities.
A total of 13,921 people from other states have been arrested in Bihar between April 1, 2016 and June 2025. A list of 305 individuals from other states, wanted in Prohibition related cases in Bihar, has been sent to the states concerned for their arrest, ADG said.
Altogether 240 individuals have been identified who have amassed property through illegal trade of liquor in the state. Proposals to confiscate property of 76 people have already been submitted to the respective courts. “The process of confiscating property of these accused will start once the court’s permission is obtained by police,” ADG remarked.
Both the Excise Department and state police seized 16,21,430 litres of liquor, including 8,04,888 litres of Indian made foreign liquor, in the state since January this year. The value of seized liquor has been estimated at Rs.74.18 crore.
A total of 5,22,096 litres of Indian made foreign liquor were seized by 10 special teams since January this year. On an average, 75,000 litres of liquor were seized by Excise department every month up to June 2025, which is about 12 per cent more compared to 2024.
In addition, 8,546 individuals’ names have been entered in the ‘Goonda Register’ of police stations. Besides, 1,344 individuals have been booked under Crime Control Act (CCA) to make the law more effective.
However, no death from spurious liquor has been reported in the state since January this year.
Bihar came under total prohibition on April 4, 2016. Under the new prohibition law, manufacture, sale, storage, consumption and transportation of liquor is completely banned. This is also being treated as a criminal offence.