MP in hall of infamy for highest cases of Excise Act breach

BHOPAL: Latest report of the

National Crime Records Bureau

(

NCRB

) has thrown up another startling fact. Highest number of Excise Act cases in the country were registered in prohibition-bound Madhya Pradesh last year.

On an average, 173 cases were registered per day under the Excise Act —for violation of rules, including illegal sale of liquor. The state registered 63,253 cases under the Excise Act in 2016 — way ahead of the second in the list with 58,848 cases — Uttar Pradesh — the most populous state and, around 12,000 more when compared from 2015.

Last year, UP was at top in Excise Act cases and the state was second highest. But then the gap was of a few cases. In 2015, UP recorded a maximum number of 51,491 cases of Excise Act while MP was close second with just 21 cases less at 51,470.

Senior officials in excise department ascribe reasons for a spike in cases. First, they say, the detection rate of unauthorised sale of liquor is higher in the state due to vigilance and tough action.

The argument has an uncanny resemblance to oft-repeated one the government gives on highest number of rape cases. There are more rape cases in MP as cops register an FIR on all complaints, something it says does not happen in other parts of the country.

Another argument offered for highest number of cases in MP is equally bizzare. Liquor shops in the state have not gone up in past few years due to which attempt to sale liquor through unauthorised vendors is high. People get caught during transportation or sale of liquor and are booked under the Excise Act due to which the cases are higher in MP, officials said.

With the chief minister reiterating time and again that his government is pushing for “phased prohibition,” clamour for closing liquor vends across the state has grown.

The government is spending big money on anti-liquor awareness drives. While this may be having an effect, it’s a fact that liquor is very expensive in MP — prices here are the second highest in the country, next to Karnataka.

And there is the added deterrent of having your name on police files as a ‘habitual drinker’ — the government has made it mandatory for liquor shops to keep details of frequent customers and share it with the cops.

However, in between this the revenue graph of government from the sale of liquor is going upward while the sale of liquor is less in comparison to the increasing revenue. It is due to high price of liquor in MP, the officials added.

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