Ranju DeviversusThe State of Bihar

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.4921 of 2026
                     Arising Out of PS. Case No.-329 Year-2025 Thana- GOVINDPUR District- Nawada
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                 Ranju Devi S/o Preman Chaudhary Resident of Village - Pipra, P.S.-
                 Govindpur, District- Nawada
                                                                    ... ... Petitioner/s
                                             Versus
                 The State of Bihar
                                                             ... ... Opposite Party/s
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                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :      Mr. Sheo Kumar Prasad, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :      Mr. Nagendra Prasad, A.P.P.
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                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   02-02-2026                  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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the

                   Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.

                                3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that

                   petitioner has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and is

                   a woman and allegation is of recovery of 20 litres of liquor

                   along with 300 litres of Jawa Mahua Solution from the house of

                   the petitioner.

                                4. 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 the house in question is a joint family property, as such, it

                   cannot be alleged with certainty that it was the petitioner who
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4921 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
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          had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept 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. It is next

          submitted that petitioner came to be implicated at the instance of

          the Chawkidar with whom her husband is on an inimical term. It

          is also submitted that in order to coerce the husband of the

          petitioner into submission, the Chawkidar falsely implicated the

          petitioner in the instant case.

                       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, let 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.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) 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

          Govindpur P.S. Case No. 329 of 2025, subject to the conditions

          as laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the

          BNSS.
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                                  7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned trial

                     court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if

                     it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one case,

                     it would be presumed that petitioner had concealed her

                     antecedent before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail

                     application in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order

                     shall not be confirmed but if it is found on verification that

                     petitioner has antecedent of only one case in that event the

                     provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

                                  8. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner

                     based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to

                     deposit an amount of Rs.1,500/- with the High Court Legal

                     Services Committee, Patna within a period of two weeks from

                     today.


                                                                         (Satyavrat Verma, J)

Kundan/-

U     T