Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has left anti-liquor activists shocked and the Opposition parties furious by his controversial statement about drinking and the ever growing sale of liquor in the state at a time of statewide protests against liquor shops and drinkers.
In an apparent effort to reconcile the contrast between the galloping revenue collections in Bihar from excise duty and the steady rise in public protests against liquor shops in the rural areas in the past few months, Mr Kumar said a part of this money was funding his government’s welfare schemes. But his choice of words, widely viewed as “praise for drinking and liquor,” drew flak from social activists and Opposition leaders.
“If you want to drink, then drink and pay the taxes. What is it to me? It will give us funds to continue the scheme of free bicycles for schoolgirls. We can run the many welfare schemes we run and spend money on projects like environment protection only if we have the funds,” said Kumar in his address at the 68th annual function of the Bihar Industries Association (BIA) on Monday.
The fact that Mr Kumar spoke these words in the presence of UK-based beer baron Karan Bilimoria made matters worse.
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CBi to probe murder of rti activist
Ahmedabad, Sept. 25: Strongly criticising Gujarat police for its investigation in the 2010 murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa, the Gujarat high court today ordered a CBI probe in the case. The division bench of Justices D H Vaghela and J C Upadhayay conceded the demand of activist’s father Bhikabhai Jethwa for a CBI probe and asked the central agency to complete further investigation in the case, preferably within six months.
A Right to Information (RTI) activist, Jethwa, who had filed numerous RTI applications and a PIL against illegal mining in Gir forest region, was shot dead outside the Gujarat high court on July 20, 2010. The court observed that investigation by the Gujarat police in the Jethwa murder case was far from satisfactory and to instil the confidence and sense of justice in the probe, the court is compelled to transfer it in the hands of CBI. The court asked the CBI to carry forward further investigation and directed all officers who were involved in the probe so far to cooperate with the agency. The court also asked the earlier investigating officer to provide all probe-related papers to the CBI within 10 days. After the pronouncement of the judgement, the government pleader requested for a stay of three weeks to challenge the order. — PTI