Prema Devi v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6048 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-372 Year-2025 Thana- CHANDI District- Nalanda ====================================================== 1.
Prema Devi @ Prabha Devi W/o Amirak Paswan R/o Village - Utara, P.S - Chandi, Dist. - Nalanda.
2.
Malti Devi @ Daulti Devi Wife of Adalat Paswan R/o Village - Utara, P.S - Chandi, Dist. - Nalanda.
3.
Adalat Paswan Son of Amirak Paswan R/o Village - Utara, P.S - Chandi, Dist. - Nalanda.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Pramod Kumar, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr. Ajay Kumar No. 2, A.P.P.
====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 03-02-2026
1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that petitioners are persons with clean antecedent and petitioner no. 1 and 2 are women and allegation is of recovery of 8.6 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioners.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from their conscious possession. It is further
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6048 of 2026(2) dt.03-02-2026 2/3 submitted that the house in question is a joint family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it were the petitioners who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within their knowledge and after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with. It is next submitted that petitioners came to be implicated at the instance of the local person but then the name of the person who disclosed the name of the petitioners is not disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution, more so, when petitioners are persons with clean antecedent.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioners.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, let the petitioners above-named, in the event of their arrest or surrender before the learned trial court within a period of six weeks from today, be released on provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) each with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned trial court where the case is pending/successor court in connection with
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6048 of 2026(2) dt.03-02-2026 3/3 Chandi P.S. Case No. 372 of 2025, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned trial court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and if it is found that petitioners have antecedent of even one case, it would be presumed that petitioners had concealed their antecedent before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail application in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed but if it is found on verification that petitioners are persons with clean antecedent in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
8. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit an amount of Rs.1,500/- with the Advocate Association of the Patna High Court within a period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J) Kundan/- U T