Death penalty for hooch deaths in UP; Govt may issue ordinance
21 Sept 2017 12:11 AM IST
Lucknow: To tighten the screws on the state's illicit liquor mafia, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to add a section in the Excise Act to provide for death penalty or life imprisonment for those responsible for hooch deaths.
The state government may soon issue an ordinance in this regard, a senior minister said.
The decision to add the death penalty provision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an official release said here on Wednesday. The measure would act as a deterrent, UP Excise Minister Jai Pratap Singh said.
After Delhi and Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh would become the third state where bootleggers may be sent to the gallows if consumption of spurious liquor leads to loss of life.
"Since the state legislature is not in session, an ordinance will be brought and when the House meets, a bill can be passed," Singh said.
He explained that to curb the manufacture of spurious liquor, provisions of life imprisonment and death penalty will be incorporated in the existing law through the ordinance.
Next Story
