Dileep Kumar Deepak v. The State Of Bihar Through Principal Secretary, Excise Act Department Govt. Of Bihar , Patna And Or

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1518 of 2017 Arising Out of PS.Case No. -null Year- null Thana -null District- JAMUI ===========================================================

1. Dileep Kumar Deepak Son of late Amar Nath Jha Resident of Jaganpura, P.S. Ram Krishnanagar, District Patna, Residing at and P.O. Kalyanpur, P.S. Bibhutipur, District- Samastipur.

.... .... Petitioner/s

Versus

1. The State of Bihar Through Principal Secretary, Excise Act Department Govt. of Bihar , Patna.

2. The Distt. Magistrate, Cum-Collector, Jamui.

3. The Superintendent of Excise, Jamui.

4. S.H.O. Jamui.

.... .... Respondent/s =========================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Satya Prakash Parasar, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha, GA-1 =========================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIRENDRA KUMAR ORAL JUDGMENT Date: 04-09-2017 Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The petitioner is owner of Indigo vehicle bearing registration No. BR-01CC/7777. The said vehicle was seized in connection with Jaumi P.S. Case No.148 of 2017, a case registered for alleged violation of the Excise laws.

3. The present writ application has been filed for direction to the respondents to release the said vehicle.

4. Submission of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner had approached the learned Chief Judicial

Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.1518 of 2017 dt.04-09-2017 P3/ Magistrate, Jamui, for release of the vehicle but the Court-below has not passed any order as yet.

5. Contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the power of the executive authority to confiscate the vehicle is pending consideration in LPA No.1647 of 2015 (Baleshwar Roy V. The State of Bihar & Ors.) before a larger Bench of this Court. Hence, till adjudication of that dispute the interim release of the vehicle may be ordered in favour of the petitioner otherwise the vehicle would get rotten in the police lockup.

6. Learned counsel for the respondent submits that Section 60 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, bars the jurisdiction of the Court to entertain application for release of the seized articles including the vehicles.

7. In the circumstances, for substantial justice, let the vehicle, in question, be released in favour of the petitioner by way of ad interim custody on execution of surety bond of Rs.5,00,000/- (Five Lacs), not in the form of cash/Bank Guarantee, along with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the concerned authority with condition that the petitioner would not dispose of the said vehicle without permission of the authority concerned and shall produce as and when required by the Court. The release shall be subject to the result of the L.P.A. aforesaid.

Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.1518 of 2017 dt.04-09-2017 P3/

8. With the aforesaid observation, this writ application stands disposed of.

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