Patna High Court
Manju DeviversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of her antecedent, under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Summary
Manju Devi applied for anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case alleging recovery of 10 litres of liquor and 50 litres of Mahua from her residence, alleged offences under Sections 274 and 275 of the B.N.S., 2023 and Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act. She argued that she has a clean antecedent, is a woman, and that the liquor was located in a joint family house, not in her conscious possession, and that the allegation stemmed from a hostile chowkidar seeking to pressure her husband. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, directed that she be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to verification of her criminal antecedent and under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is found, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail despite allegations under Sections 274 and 275 of the B.N.S., 2023 and Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act.
- Whether the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender, removed by the 2018 amendment, applies to the petitioner.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent and lack of conscious possession justify granting anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S., 2023 — s. 274, 275
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- deemed possession
- excise law
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- Section 482
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6205 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-512 Year-2025 Thana- BANJARIA District- East Champaran
======================================================
Manju Devi Wife of Harendra Sahani R/O village - Jhakhiya Naya Tola, P.S.-
Banjariya, Dist.- East Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Ms. Usha Kumari, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Khurshid Anwar, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 04-02-2026 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 Section 30(a) of Bihar Prohibition and
Excise (Amendment) 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 10 litres of liquor along with 50
litres of Mahua Pass 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6205 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
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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 at the
instance of Chowkidar with whom her husband is on an inimical
term. It is next submitted that the Chowkidar deliberately
implicated the petitioner with a view to coerce her husband into
submission, 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 Exclusive Special
Excise Court No.-1, Motihari, East Champaran in connection
with Banjariya P.S. Case No.512 of 2025, subject to the
conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6205 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
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7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond 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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