Sarita Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.80718 of 2023 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-493 Year-2023 Thana- RAJAOLI District- Nawada ====================================================== SARITA DEVI W/O VIKASH KUMAR RESIDENT OF VILLAGE- BHAIJI BHATA, PS. RAJAULI, DIST. NAWADA.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

THE STATE OF BIHAR ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Umesh Prasad, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Rabindra Kumar, A.P.P.

====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 15-04-2024

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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is a person with clean antecedent.

4. Allegation is of recovery of 5 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from her conscious possession. It is further 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 as such it cannot be alleged with certainty that it

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.80718 of 2023(4) dt.15-04-2024 2/3 was the petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within the knowledge of the petitioner and she came to be implicated at the instance of the local person but then it does not stand to reason that if the local person was aware about the involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence then whey he did not inform the police prior to the institution of the instant FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution.

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

7. 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 Court below 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 court below where the case is pending/successor court in connection with Rajauli P.S. Case No. 493 of 2023, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Cr.P.C.

8. However, the learned trial court, before accepting the bail bonds of the petitioner, shall verify the criminal

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.80718 of 2023(4) dt.15-04-2024 3/3 antecedent of the petitioner and if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case in that event the present anticipatory bail order shall not be given effect to. (Satyavrat Verma, J) Kundan/- U T