Madhya Pradesh’s Liquor Law Is Particularly Harsh On NT-DNT Women
Mahua liquor is a traditional brew for many tribal communities. While Madhya Pradesh encourages its production and sale by Scheduled Tribes, the crackdown against NT-DNT communities under the excise act is exceptionally harsh
Four years ago, Madhya Pradesh classified alcohol extracted from mahua flowers as ‘heritage liquor’, encouraging its commercial production and controlled sale by the state’s Schedule Tribes. But this Heritage Liquour Policy is not extended to the state’s nomadic and denotified tribes (NT-DNT/Vimukta) who also brew mahua liquor as an old cultural and social practice.
This is discriminatory, say Vimukta community members and activists interviewed by Behanbox. They also allege that offenders from their community are being punished with exceptional severity under the excise act for brewing and selling mahua liquor. They complained of false charges being filed against non-offenders, extortion, abuse and confiscation of material. For Vimukta women, this kind of police crackdown is particularly traumatising because it results in immense hardships, we found in our reporting.
The state’s excise act regulates the production, sale, possession, and consumption of the liquor in the state, empowering it to impose duties, issue licenses, and enforce penalties. One of its aims is to curb illicit trade in liquor, ensure revenue collection, and address alcohol-related issues. It prescribes strict penalties for violation of rules, including imprisonment (six months to 10 years) and fines up to Rs 10 lakh. There are harsher punishments for selling alcohol without a license, adulteration, and repeat offenses. This includes the confiscation of the property used in illegal alcohol trade. The 2021 amendments in this act impose life imprisonment or the death penalty for hooch-related deaths.
A recent research report, ‘Drunk on Power’, by the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPAP), an organisation focussed on caste and justice systems, alleges caste bias in the implementation of the excise act in Madhya Pradesh. Historically labeled as ‘criminal tribes,’ the Vimukta community continues to face caste-based prejudice.
Data show that women from the Kanjar and Kuchbandiya communities are particularly targeted by the police in Madhya Pradesh – of the 509 women arrested in Ghampur police station in Jabalpur, 441 were from the Kuchbandhiya community, according to the CPAP report.
“Last year, around 5am, the police raided our village. We ran towards the fields, desperate to hide. It felt as if getting caught would mean losing my life. I jumped over a wall in the field, but I fell badly, suffered severe injuries and miscarried my baby. I knew they wouldn’t spare me if I was caught,” says Heena Kanjar, 30, who works as a farm labourer in Sagonia village of Guna district.
Heena belongs to the Kanjar community. In a raid last year, the police stormed her village to seize illicit liquor. She had previously been arrested in 2020 on charges of illegally selling liquor and spent three months in jail. It was during the COVID-19 lockdown that she was released.
“I was arrested on charges of producing and selling liquor, but I am a farm laborer and earn Rs 100 to 200 as daily wage. I struggle to make ends meet,” says Heena.
As Behanbox has reported, Vimukta women face multiple challenges in securing employment under MNREGS, with caste discrimination being a major hurdle. Traditionally, these landless communities have lived off street arts, fishing, and hunting. However, hunting was criminalised under India’s Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. There are no industrial zones or alternative job avenues in Guna and the women argue that they are left with only two options—farm work or construction work.
Extreme Desperation
In Sagonia village, there are around 50 Kanjar households and every family here has faced arrests under the excise act, our investigations show. Men, women, and even children have been subjected to legal action and there are allegations that they have had to endure police brutality while in custody and outside.
“I don’t sell liquor even when we don’t have secure jobs or employment under MNREGS,” says Kailasibai Kanjar, 50, who has faced multiple incarcerations. “Our community is labeled as criminal by the police. They raid our homes whenever they want, disrupt everything, throw away our belongings, even food and toys of young children.”
The Vimukta women we interviewed said they brewed mahua liquor only when they are driven to despair by the absence of livelihood options. They usually brew up to 2-4 litres for sale and keep the rest for their families to be consumed during festivals and community events.
“When there is no work and my family goes on the verge of starvation, I sell 2-3 litres of mahua liquor. With an investment of Rs 500-600, I make a weekly profit of around Rs 500-600—roughly Rs 100-150 a day, though some days I earn nothing. But the police torment us endlessly. Even when I’m not selling anything, they barge into my home on mere suspicion. They demand bribes, and if I refuse they seize my belongings, ransack my kitchen, beat me, and force me to flee,” said Bharatibai Kanjar.*
All the women and men we interviewed from Sagonia village in Guna allege police brutality – beating, extortion, casteist, verbal and sexual abuse, confiscation of property and intimidation of children. All women of the Kanjar community in this village say they have been incarcerated at least once. All of them are out on bail and have no idea about the current status of their cases.
Quite a few women in their 50s, such as Kailasibai, have multiple FIRs against them. Kailasibai is still waiting for a verdict in a case that was registered against her eight years ago in Chachoda.
“In January, I was taking my son, who had a fever, to a doctor in Raghavgad village when they stopped us in the market and began yelling at me. They demanded Rs 5,000, but I only had Rs 600, which I handed over—it was all I had. I had to get my son treated at a government hospital because the police took all my money. But even that wasn’t enough for them. They threatened to arrest my husband if I didn’t pay the full amount. To save him, I was forced to take a loan from a private moneylender at a steep 5% monthly interest rate,” says Poojabai Kanjar.
Women from different NT-DNT communities have to take up loans to bribe police and they languish in debt traps, Behanbox has reported.
Fearing arrest, Poojabai’s husband has stopped going out. “Our men don’t go to work fearing police action without due legal process and evidence,” says Priyanka Kanjar.
Behanbox has sent a questionnaire via email to the district excise office of Guna about the manner in which the act is implemented in the state. This story will be updated when we receive a response.
CPA Project’s research shows that the implementation of the excise Act is largely castiest. Its study of 5,62,118 arrest records from 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh and 540 randomly selected first information reports, shows that 56.35% of those arrested belonged to marginalised communities – SC (9.87%), ST (21.53 %), OBC (15.64 %) and Vimukta (6.86 %).
Says lawyer and co-founder of the CPA Project, Nikita Sonavane: “When the police act under the excise act, they seize and sell accused persons’ vehicles, even before the trial is concluded. Later, if the accused is acquitted, they receive no compensation for their lost property. Bail in these cases are rarely granted by lower courts, forcing many to approach the High Court at great expense—an unaffordable burden for Vimukta communities.”
Heritage Liquor Policy
The Heritage Liquor Policy, stated as Section 4 of the state’s excise act, aims to regulate and promote traditional, locally brewed liquors, conserving indigenous brewing techniques, support local artisans, and boost tourism.
Under this policy, specific heritage liquors, often made from natural ingredients like mahua, are granted legal recognition and regulated for quality, licensing, and taxation. The law ensures that these traditional beverages are produced safely while preventing illicit trade.
In Madhya Pradesh, heritage liquor can be produced by tribal communities, self-help groups (SHGs), cooperative societies, and licensed distilleries under regulated conditions and by following traditional brewing methods. The producers must obtain licenses from the State Excise Department, ensure compliance with quality standards, safety norms, and taxation policies.
Those who belong to the Scheduled Tribes (STs) – as per the Constitution and officially recognised by the state’s Tribal Welfare Department – are eligible to apply for the heritage liquor license in Madhya Pradesh. This includes Gonds, Bhils, and Baigas. Tribal applicants need to apply to the State Excise Department with documents to verify their social grouping and upon approval, a license is issued with specified production limits and quality standards. License holders must comply with excise laws to ensure safe and legal brewing.
Many women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) from the state’s tribal communities started producing heritage liquor, particularly mahua-based, under state-regulated policies. These SHGs, supported by government initiatives, receive licenses from the State Excise Department. However, the lack of sufficient branding, marketing and advertising mean that they do not earn any profit.
Vimukta activists have sought a more uniform legal framework for the production of heritage liquor, one that covers all tribal communities, including NT-DNT.
“If the government supports mahua-based liquor production under the Heritage Liquor Policy, why does it exclude denotified communities? If STs are allowed to produce liquor under this policy and even under PESA Act (Panchayat extensions to Scheduled areas) then Vimukta communities should also be recognised and provided with licenses, training etc and their production of mahua liquor shall be regularised,” says Nikita. (The PESA (Panchayat Extension to scheduled areas) Act 1996, empowers Gram Sabhas in India’s Fifth Schedule areas, by giving tribal communities autonomy over local governance.)
No Resources For Legal Fight
Women from NT-DNT communities struggle to make ends meet with their limited resources. When their family members are arrested, they need to spend at least Rs. 40,000 for legal fees. Travelling to a sessions and district court at Guna adds to their expenses.
“We don’t get bails easily, not before 90 days from the sessions court, so we need to go to the high court bench in Gwalior. High court lawyers take anywhere between Rs. 1 to 2 lakh as their fees. There is no other way but to take up a loan. People from our community are mostly illiterate so most times they are not given proper information about the case by lawyers. They don’t understand the legal terms and procedures,” says Samar Singh, an LLB student from the Kanjar community in Sagonia Village. He aspires to be a lawyer only to help his community in their legal battles.
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