CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has set September 15 as deadline for the government to clear the air on the status of enforcement of the Orissa Prohibition Act, 1956. The State Legislature had passed the law with an intention to introduce and extend prohibition on manufacture, sale and consumption of intoxicating liquors and drugs in Odisha.
The President of India had given assent to the Act on January 19, 1957. But the Act is yet to be notified and enforced. It sought to repeal the Bihar and Orissa Excise Act, 1915. The division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice SK Panigrahi set the deadline after the government failed to give a clear reply to a PIL last week. Advocate Arun Kumar Budhia filed the PIL in 2013.
The petition was taken up on April 5, 2021 and the government had responded by only suggesting steps that have been taken to control the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor. When it was argued on the petitioner’s behalf that the petition is not only about manufacture and sale of illicit liquor, but all forms of liquor which stand prohibited under the Orissa Prohibition Act, Additional Government Advocate (AGA) DK Mohanty stated that he will take instructions. The Court on the AGA’s request posted the matter to June 22. But when the petition came up, the AGA sought more time to file an affidavit.