Patna High Court
Pooja DeviversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The High Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of her antecedents and compliance with the stipulated conditions.
Summary
Petitioner Pooja Devi, owner of a vehicle from which 240.63 litres of liquor were seized, sought anticipatory bail under Section 482(2) of the BNSS, arguing she had no prior criminal record and was unaware of the misuse of her vehicle. The State opposed the bail, contending the seizure implicated her under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act. The court noted that no liquor was found in her possession and that ownership alone does not prove participation in the offence. It granted provisional anticipatory bail, requiring a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and a six‑week period for the trial court to verify her antecedents. The order stipulated that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would be revoked; otherwise, the provisional bail would be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted to the vehicle owner under Section 482(2) of the BNSS in a case of alleged excise law violation
- Whether ownership of the vehicle used in the alleged offence constitutes sufficient grounds for arrest
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482(2)
- vehicle ownership
- clean antecedent
- high court order
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.20167 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-131 Year-2026 Thana- AHIYAPUR District- Muzaffarpur
======================================================
Pooja Devi W/O Bittu Pandit Resident of Village- Berai, P.S- Hathauri, Distt.-
Muzaffarpur.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Anuj Kumar Shrivastav
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms. Shaheen Begum
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 31-03-2026 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 offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
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 240.63 liters of liquor from two
Autos.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not apprehended from the spot as such nothing
was recovered from her conscious possession and she came to
be implicated based on the fact that she is owner of one of the
the seized vehicles. It is next submitted that no prudent person
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would use her own vehicle for committing an occurrence and
thus would create evidence against herself and hence would get
implicated, it is further submitted that petitioner was completely
unaware that Raghvendra would misuse the vehicle in the
manner as alleged who was also apprehended from the spot. It is
next submitted that it is not the case of the prosecution that they
saw a female fleeing from the place of occurrence.
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 petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the
event of her arrest or surrender before the learned Trial Court
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 Ahiyapur
(Garha O.P.) P.S. Case No. 131 of 2026 subject to the conditions
as laid down under Section 482 (2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court
shall verify 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
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seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed her antecedent before this
Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
confirmed, but after verification if 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)
Rishabh/-
U T
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