Sudhir Singh @ Sudhir Kumar v. The State Of Bihar Through The Principal Secretary, Excise Department And ORS

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1059 of 2017 ======================================================

1. SUDHIR SINGH @ SUDHIR KUMAR, Son of Ram Sagar Singh, resident of Village- Panhas, ward No. 28, P.S. Lohiya Nagar, O.P. DistrictBegusarai .... Petitioner

Versus

1. The State of Bihar Through The Principal Secretary, Excise Department, Government of Bihar, Patna

2. The District Magistrate, Begusarai

3. The Superintendent of Police, Begusarai

4. The District Supply Officer, Begusarai

5. The Station House Officer, Begusarai Town Police Station, district Begusarai .... Respondents ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner : Mr. Ram Sumiran Rai, Adv. For the Respondents : Mr. Kumar Manish, SC V ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BIRENDRA KUMAR ORAL ORDER 03-08-2017 The petitioner has prayed for release of his TVS Apache Motorcycle bearing registration no. BR-09H-0442 which was seized in connection with the violation of Excise Law. Prayer is on the ground of competency of the executive authority to confiscate and auction the seized vehicle which is under consideration before a larger Bench of this Court L.P.A. No. 1647 of 2015 (Baleshwar Roy Vrs. The State of Bihar & Ors.). Further, prayer is that till disposal of Letters Patent Appeal, aforesaid, the confiscation of the aforesaid vehicle in connection with Excise Case No. 42C2 of 2017 pending before the Additional Sessions Judge, VII, Begusarai, may be stayed and the vehicle may be released by way of ad interim custody in favour of the petitioner.

After hearing the parties, I am of the view that no purpose would be served by continued detention of the said vehicle till adjudication of the aforesaid issue, pending before the larger Bench of this Court.

Patna High Court Cr. WJC No.1059 of 2017 (2) dt.03-08-2017 2/2 Hence, it is directed that the operation of the impugned order, dated 15.06.2017, passed in Excise Case No. 42C2 of 2017, by the Additional Sessions Judge, VII, Begusarai, shall remain stayed.

In the meantime, by way of ad interim custody, let the motorcycle, referred above, be released in favour of the petitioner on execution of surety bond of Rs. 50,000/- (rupees fifty thousand) (not in the form of bank guarantee or cash) along with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the Collector, Begusarai, and the motorcycle shall be subject to Letters Patent Appeal, aforesaid.

With the aforesaid observations, this application stands disposed off.

(Birendra Kumar, J) SA/- U √ T √