Sabita Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.78137 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-948 Year-2022 Thana- MANER District- Patna ====================================================== 1.

Sabita Devi W/O Indal Manjhi Resident Of Village - Tilhari Mushahari, P.SManer, Dist.- Patna 2.

Indal Manjhi S/O Vijay Manjhi Resident Of Village - Tilhari Mushahari, P.SManer, Dist.- Patna ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr.Arvind Prasad Singh For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr.Mohammed Arif ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 27-04-2026 1.

Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned A.P.P. for the State.

2.

The petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.

3.

Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are person with clean antecedent and petitioner no. 1 is a woman and allegation is of recovery of 20 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioners and 8 litres of liquor from the house of Munna.

4.

Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners were not arrested from the spot as such nothing was

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.78137 of 2025(3) dt.27-04-2026 2/3 recovered from their conscious possession and the house in question is a joint family property as such it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioners who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within knowledge of the petitioners. 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 they came to be implicated based on secret information which is the easiest way to implicate someone without holding a proper investigation.

5.

Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioners.

6.

Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners above-named, in the event of their 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) each 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 Maner P.S. Case No. 948 of 2022, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section Section 482(2) of the BNSS.

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.78137 of 2025(3) dt.27-04-2026 3/3 7.

It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event if it is found that petitioners have antecedent of even one case then it would be presumed that petitioners, for the purposes of seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed their antecedent before this Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed with respect to that petitioner who had concealed his criminal antecedent before this Court, but after verification if it is found that petitioners are person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) Sumit/- U T