BHOPAL: Close on the heels of the spurious liquor deaths, Madhya Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal for capital punishment and hefty fine of Rs 20 lakh over fatalities due to illicit liquor.
State cabinet approved amendments to the state Excise Act, incorporating capital punishment and life imprisonment in the cases of deaths caused due to the consumption of spurious liquor.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan at Mantralaya on Tuesday. This amendment proposal, which also imposes Rs 20 lakh fine, will become a law once approved by the state Legislative Assembly. The move comes against the backdrop of the death of seven people after drinking spurious liquor in Mandsaur and four in Indore recently.
State government spokesman and Home minister Narottam Mishra, informed the media the amendments are introduced to Madhya Pradesh Excise Amendment Act 2021 to curb crimes related to the illegal liquor trade and deaths caused due to spurious liquor.“The cabinet has approved the Madhya Pradesh Excise Amendment Act 2021 under which the provisions of life imprisonment and the death penalty have been made in the cases related to deaths due to spurious liquor. A provision of Rs 20 lakh fine in such cases has also been made in the amendment,” said the home minister.
Currently, convicts are sentenced to imprisonment of five to a maximum of ten years in cases related to deaths due to the consumption of spurious liquor. The amount of fine is up to Rs 10 lakh, the minister said.
But now the law is being made more stringent, said Mishra, adding that in cases of ‘physical damage’ caused to victims after drinking spurious liquor, the penalty has been increased ranging from 10 years to maximum of 14 years from the present one year to six years, in addition to fine up to Rs 10 lakh.
"In case of seizure of spurious liquor, the jail term has been increased up to six to ten years from the present six months to maximum four years," he said.
The amendments also propose that people who attack the police and Excise department teams while they are seizing illicit liquor will be arrested without a warrant. The scope of punishment has been increased in several other provisions in this amendment proposal, he said. “These provisions will discourage people involved in illegal liquor trade and lives of people could be saved,” said Mishra.
On Monday, the Madhya Pradesh government decided to fix QR-coded holograms with over 20 security features on liquor bottles to stop smuggling and illegal trade.
Provisions…
-Death: Provisions of life imprisonment and the death penalty. Currently a jail term of five years to a maximum of ten years is awarded. The fine amount to be raised from RS 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.
-Physical damage: Jail term ranging from 10 years to 14 years from the present one year to six years; Rs 10 lakh fine
-Seizure: Jail term increased up to six to ten years from the present six months to maximum four years
In the last 15 months, Madhya Pradesh has reported 53 deaths due to consumption of spurious liquor.
No. of Deaths -District- Date
4 -Ratlam - May 4, 2020
2 - Ratlam - Sept 2,2020
14 - Ujjain - Oct 15, 2020
2 - Khargone - Jan7,2021
26 -Morena - Jan 11,2021
5 - Mandsaur - July 25,2021
MSMEs investment limit raised
Cabinet also approved to increase the investment limit for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME). Currently, industries worth Rs 10 crore and having investment of Rs 5 crore comes under MSME. But now, the industries worth Rs 50 crore and trade worth Rs 250 crore will also come under the purview of MSME. The Cabinet also gave its nod to extend Dial-100 services by two years till 2027. The Cabinet has also approved ITI at Singrauli.
