Under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022 and the 2023…

Concept — Section 57B creates a release-on-penalty route within the confiscation framework; it does not abolish confiscation. The Collector may release a seized conveyance on payment of the prescribed penalty, while non-payment permits confiscation to proceed. The rate is applied to the latest insured value rather than the market or purchase price.

Application — Working the release rule through for this question:

1. Statute involved: the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022, which amends the parent Act of 2016 and introduces the release-on-penalty route for a seized conveyance.

2. Trigger: a vehicle is seized while transporting liquor, and its owner applies for release instead of letting the vehicle be confiscated.

3. Base of the penalty: the insured value of that vehicle, that is, the sum for which it is covered by insurance.

4. Rate applied to that base: 10 per cent of the insured value, the floor fixed by the state notification operative at the time of this examination, with the penalty subject to a ceiling of 5 lakh rupees.

5. Worked figure: on a vehicle insured for 5,00,000 rupees, that 10 per cent floor works out to a payment of 50,000 rupees.

Cross-check —

• The calculation uses insured value, not showroom price or resale price.

• The percentage is a minimum floor, while ₹5 lakh is a separate maximum ceiling.

• The Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2023, effective from 31 May 2023, replaced the earlier 50 per cent fixed-rate clause with the 10 per cent floor and Collector discretion above it.

Hence the minimum penalty for release is 10 per cent of the vehicle’s insured value, subject to the ₹5 lakh ceiling.