Karuna Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.22591 of 2024 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-803 Year-2023 Thana- BARH District- Patna ====================================================== Karuna Devi W/o Late Shyam Kishore Choudhary R/o vill - Agawanpur, wrongly mentioned in the FIR of vill - Purai Bagh, P.S - Barh, Distt. - Patna ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr.Manoj Kumar Pandey For the Opposite Party/s :

Ms.Indu Kumari Srivastava ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 01-04-2024

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned APP for the State.

2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of her arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.

3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and is a woman and the allegation is of recovery of 20 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from her conscious possession and after Amendment in the Excise Act, 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with. It is also submitted

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.22591 of 2024(2) dt.01-04-2024 2/2 even the house, which is a joint family property and thus, cannot be alleged with certainty that it was the petitioner, who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within her knowledge and she came to be implicated based on secret information, which is the easiest way to implicate someone, when admittedly petitioner is a person with clean antecedent.

5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the bail application.

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 Court below within a period of six weeks, is directed to be released on bail on her furnishing bail-bonds in the sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Special Excise Judge, Barh, Patna in connection with Barh P. S. Case No.803 of 2023, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.

7. The application stands allowed.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) vikash/- U T