Sanjay Kumar Jha @ Professor Sanjay Kumar Jha @ Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jha v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.48906 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-68 Year-2024 Thana- Tilkamanjhi District- Bhagalpur ====================================================== Sanjay Kumar Jha @ Professor Sanjay Kumar Jha @ Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jha S/o Late Mejor Navin Chandra Jha Resident of village- Hanuman Mandir, TilkaManjhi Lalbagh, P.S.- Kotwali (Tilkamanjhi), District- Bhagalpur ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1.

The State of Bihar 2.

The Registrar, Tilkamanjhi Bhagalpur University Bhagalpur. ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr.Sanjeev Kumar For the State :

Ms.Pronoti Singh For the University :

Ms. Anita Kumari ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR SINHA ORAL ORDER 11-08-2025

1. Heard learned Counsel for the petitioner, learned Counsel for the University and learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.

2. This application, for grant of anticipatory bail, arises out of University Police Station Case No. 68 of 2024, dated 18.10.2024, disclosing offences punishable under Sections 319(2)/318(4)/338/336(3)/340(2) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

3. The prosecution case, as per the First Information Report, is that the petitioner filed an application for appointment on the post of Vice Chancellor before the Governor Secretariat with necessary documents, in which forgery

2/4 has been committed in the notification no. GA225/2014, Memo No. B/22200-80, dated 15.12.2016, by interpolating the year 2010 in place of 2016, duly attested by the petitioner. It is alleged that the petitioner has committed forgery in order to obtain appointment as Vice Chancellor.

4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has not committed any offence in the manner alleged. The petitioner has all along an unblemished career and has retired from the post of Professor and worked as Head of the Department, Post Graduate Department of Geology, Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur. Pursuant to the advertisement, the petitioner applied, through online mode, for the post of Vice Chancellor with necessary documents, along with the copy of the notification before the Governor Secretariat. Since the petitioner was not techno-friendly, he had taken the services of other persons/cyber cafe for applying the same. After uploading the application and other documents, the person running the cyber cafe handed over the documents to the technician. The only allegation against the petitioner is that he made

3/4 interpolation in the year of the notification inasmuch as instead of 2016, he mentioned the year of notification as 2010 for his illegal gain, but this was, according to the petitioner, a sheer human mistake.

5. On the other hand, learned Counsel for the University vehemently opposes the prayer for bail and submits that as per the allegation, the petitioner made interpolation in the year of the notification by putting 2010 in place of 2016 in order to fulfill the criteria of experience for the post of Vice Chancellor. The petitioner was holding a responsible post and the act of the petitioner was unbecoming of a Professor.

6. Regards being had to the submissions advanced on behalf of the parties and taking into consideration the nature of allegation and the fact that the allegation against the petitioner is based upon documents and custodial interrogation of the petitioner may not be required, I am inclined to grant the petitioner privilege of anticipatory bail.

7. This application is, accordingly, allowed.

8. Let the petitioner, above named, in the event of his arrest or surrender before the Court below within a period of

4/4 four weeks from today, be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- (ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned 2nd Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Bhagalpur, in connection with University Police Station Case No. 68 of 2024, subject to the condition laid down under Section 482 (2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. (Anil Kumar Sinha, J.) Prabhakar Anand/- U √ T √