Mala Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.24422 of 2024 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-813 Year-2023 Thana- BUDDHACOLONY District- Patna ====================================================== Mala Devi Wife of Sanjay Dhangar Resident of China Kothi, Harijan Colony, P.S.- Budha Colony, Dist.- Patna-800001 ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr.Kaushal Kumar For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr.Ashok Kumar Singh ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 03-04-2024 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 the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of recovery of 60 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner and 70 litres from Mina Devi.

4.

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was recovered from her conscious possession and after the amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.24422 of 2024(2) dt.03-04-2024 2/3 with. It is next submitted that house 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 within knowledge of the petitioner and she came to be implicated at the instance of local people. It is also submitted that in majority of the cases, the police, in a mechanical manner, is implicating the innocent persons at the instance of Chowkidar or local people but then it absolutely does not stand to reason that if local people was aware of the involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence then why he did not inform the police prior to institution of the instant FIR which further casts aspersion on the case of the prosecution.

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 anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) 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 Budha Colony P.S.

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.24422 of 2024(2) dt.03-04-2024 3/3 Case No. 813 of 2023, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Cr.P.C.

7.

It is made clear that the learned trial court before accepting the bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the event if it is found that the petitioner has antecedent of even one case, in that event the present anticipatory bail order shall not be given effect.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) SUMIT/- U T