Sunarpati Devi @ Sundarapati Devi v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.11809 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-1004 Year-2025 Thana- MOTIHARI TOWN District- East Champaran ====================================================== Sunarpati Devi @ Sundarapati Devi Wife of Late Shankar Chaudahry @ Lal Shankar Chaudhari R/V Ward no. - 27, Balua, P.S. - Motihari Town, Dist. - East Champaran.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Kundan Rathore Alias Kundan Kumar, Adv.
For the Opposite Party/s :
Md. Nazir Ansari, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 24-02-2026
1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioner apprehends her arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has antecedent of one case under the excise act and is a woman and allegation is of recovery of 160.7 liters of liquor from house of the petitioner and 22.4 liters of liquor from house of Bhola.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner was not apprehended from the spot as such nothing was recovered from her conscious possession and the house in
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11809 of 2026(2) dt.24-02-2026 2/3 question is a joint family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within her 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 and the petitioner came to be implicated based on secret information which is the easiest way to implicate someone without holding a proper investigation.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the event of her 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. 5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) 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 Motihari Town P.S. Case No. 1004 of 2025 subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 482 (2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.11809 of 2026(2) dt.24-02-2026 3/3 in the event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one case then it would be presumed that petitioner, for the purposes of seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed her antecedent before this Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of one case only, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J) Rishabh/- U T