Patna High Court
Ramrati DeviversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court conditionally granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of her antecedent and compliance with the stipulated conditions.
Summary
Ramrati Devi, a woman with a clean antecedent, feared arrest in a case alleging that 14.5 litres of liquor were recovered from her joint family house under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act. She argued that the liquor was not in her conscious possession, the house being joint family property, and that the amendment to the Excise Act in 2018 had abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The FIR did not disclose the informant who named her, raising doubts about the prosecution's case. The State opposed her request for anticipatory bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a modest bond, two sureties, and verification of her criminal antecedent, with the order to be confirmed if she is found to have a clean record.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under Section 482(2) of the BNSS in view of the alleged possession of liquor under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
- Whether the removal of the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender by the 2018 amendment affects the prosecution's case.
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- deemed possession
- presumed offender
- joint family property
- Section 482(2)
- criminal antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.23112 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-18 Year-2026 Thana- SIRISIYA District- West Champaran
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Ramrati Devi W/o Bharat Manjhi R/o vill- Mushari Bijbania, PS- Sirisiya,
District- West Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Umesh Kumar Gupta
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Arun Kumar Singh
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 08-04-2026 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 the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and is a woman and
allegation is of recovery of 14.5 litres of liquor from the house
of the petitioner.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
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
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the house or the liquor kept in the house was within knowledge
of the petitioner. 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
she came to be implicated at the instance of local people, but
then the name of the person, who disclosed the name of the
petitioner, is not disclosed in the FIR, which casts an aspersion
on the case of the prosecution, when petitioner has not been
implicated based on secret information.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the
event of her 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) 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 Sirisiya P.S. Case No. 18 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
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then it would be presumed that petitioner, for the purposes of
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)
Sumit/-
U T
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