Patna High Court
Intiya Devi @ Pratima Devi @ Itiya DeviversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail, subject to verification of the petitioner's antecedent and compliance with Section 482(2).
Summary
The petitioner, Intiya Devi, sought anticipatory bail after a case was registered against her under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022 for alleged possession of liquor. She argued that the liquor was recovered from a joint family house, she had no conscious possession, and she has a clean criminal record. The State opposed the bail, contending the allegations warranted arrest. The High Court, considering the lack of direct possession, the abolition of the deemed‑possession concept after the 2018 amendment, and the petitioner's clean antecedent, directed that she be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond and sureties. The order was made subject to verification of her antecedent; if any prior case is found, the bail would not be confirmed. The court thus allowed the anticipatory bail application with conditions under Section 482(2).
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022 in the absence of conscious possession.
- Whether the post‑2018 amendment abolishing deemed possession precludes liability in this case.
- What conditions, if any, should be imposed on the provisional anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 30(a)
- excise law
- possession
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- Section 482(2)
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.1110 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-732 Year-2025 Thana- BODHGAYA District- Gaya
======================================================
Intiya Devi @ Pratima Devi @ Itiya Devi W/o Late Rajesh Manjhi Resident
of Village- Jani Bigha, P.S.- Bodhgaya, District- Gayaji
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ujjawal Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Bhanu Pratap Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 20-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends her arrest in a case registered
for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of Bihar
Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and is a woman and
allegation is of recovery of 5 litres of liquor from the house of
Prayag Manjhi and 15 litres of liquor from house of the
petitioner. It is next submitted that 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 with certainty that it was
petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.1110 of 2026(2) dt.20-01-2026
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in the house was within her knowledge and after amendment in
the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed
possession and presumed offender has been done away with and
the petitioner came to be implicated based on secret
information, which is the easiest way to implicate someone
without holding a proper investigation, when petitioner
admittedly is a person with clean antecedent.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. 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, is directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on her furnishing bail-bond in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Additional
Sessions Judge-cum-Exclusive Special Excise Court-01, Gaya
in connection with Bodhgaya P.S. Case No.732 of 2025, subject
to the conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond of the petitioner shall verify
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the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, then it
would be presumed that petitioner for the purposes of obtaining
anticipatory bail had concealed her antecedent before this Court,
in that event, the present provisional anticipatory bail order shall
not be confirmed, but if on verification, 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)
Sanjay/-
U T
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