Patna High Court
Mehsi Devi @ Parwati DeviversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The anticipatory bail application is allowed, granting provisional anticipatory bail subject to verification of antecedent and conditions under Section 482(2).
Summary
Mehsi Devi sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case under Sections 274 and 275 of the B.N.S., 2023 and Sections 30(a) and 41(1) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, where liquor was allegedly recovered from a joint family house. The petitioner argued she had no conscious possession, the liquor was not in her exclusive control, and the case relied on a confessional statement made in police custody, which lacks evidentiary value. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering the clean antecedent and lack of direct possession, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a Rs.500 bail bond, two sureties, and verification of the petitioner’s criminal record. The order is conditional: if any antecedent is found, the bail will not be confirmed; otherwise, it will be confirmed. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted when the accused has no conscious possession of the alleged contraband
- Whether a confessional statement made in police custody can form the basis for arrest in the absence of other evidence
- Effect of the 2018 amendment removing the concept of deemed possession on the bail application
Legislation cited
- B.N.S., 2023 — s. 274, 275
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- possession
- confessional statement
- liquor seizure
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- Section 482 CrPC
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.56909 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-289 Year-2025 Thana- MOTIHARI TOWN District- East
Champaran
======================================================
Mehsi Devi @ Parwati Devi W/o Late Ramji Chaudhari @ Late Ramji
Chaudhary Resident of village- Baluwa Chikpatti, P.S.- Town, Distt.- East
Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Akbar Ali, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 05-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends her arrest in a case registered
for the offences punishable under Sections 274 and 275 of
B.N.S., 2023 as well as Sections 30(a) and 41(1) of Bihar
Prohibition and 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 35.7 litres of liquor from house of
the petitioner and 17.7 litres of liquor from house of co-accused.
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,
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.56909 of 2025(3) dt.05-01-2026
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as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner
who 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 and she came
to be implicated based on confessional statement of
apprehended accused in police custody which does not have any
evidentiary value.
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-bonds in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Special
Judge, Excise Court No.-1, Motihari, East Champaran in
connection with Town P.S. Case No.289 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.56909 of 2025(3) dt.05-01-2026
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accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner 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 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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