Savitri Devi v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.30626 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-1010 Year-2025 Thana- GAYA MUFASIL District- Gaya ====================================================== Savitri Devi D/O Jagrook Manjhi @ Jagrup Manjhi R/O Village- Mirjapur, P.S.- Muffasil, Distt.- Gaya.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr.Sudhir Kumar Sinha For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr.Rajesh Kumar ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 04-05-2026 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 the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and is a woman and allegation is of recovery of 2 litres of liquor from house of Gudiya Devi and 10 litres of liquor from the house of Jagruk Manjhi.
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 the house in question is a joint family property as such it cannot be alleged
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.30626 of 2026(2) dt.04-05-2026 2/3 with certainty that it was petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within knowledge of the petitioner. It is next submitted that after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with and she came to be implicated based on secret information, being wife of Jagruk Manjhi, which is the easiest way to implicate someone without holding a proper investigation, when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean antecedent. 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 within a period of six weeks from today, be released on Provisional 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 Gaya Mufassil P.S. Case No. 1010 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 in the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.30626 of 2026(2) dt.04-05-2026 3/3 event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even 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 is a person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith. (Satyavrat Verma, J) Sumit/- U T