Patna High Court

Santosh SahniversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 5 January 2026
Disposal: ALLOWED
Bench: SUNIL DUTTA MISHRA

Holding

The High Court granted bail to the petitioner, exercising its inherent powers under Section 482(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.

Summary

Santosh Sahni was arrested in a case registered under Sections 75, 77, 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for allegedly secretly filming an informant while she was bathing, blackmailing her and making the video public. The petitioner contended that he is innocent, that the allegations stem from a land dispute, and that he never recorded or distributed any such video. He highlighted a two‑month delay between the alleged incident (02‑10‑2024) and the filing of the FIR (02‑12‑2024) and pointed out his clean criminal record. The State opposed bail, but the court, after considering the delay, lack of antecedents and the petitioner’s willingness to cooperate, granted bail subject to a bond of Rs.10,000 and two sureties, invoking the inherent powers of the High Court under Section 482(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The order directs the petitioner to surrender within six weeks if arrested.

Issues considered

Whether bail should be granted to the petitioner under the circumstances of alleged offences under Sections 75, 77, 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
Whether the delay in lodging the FIR and the claim of false implication warrant the exercise of the High Court's inherent powers under Section 482(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita

Legislation cited

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita — s. 482(2)
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita — s. 75, 77, 78, 79

Subjects

bail
privacy violation
blackmail
video recording
FIR delay
land dispute
Section 482
criminal procedure

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.79395 of 2025
                    Arising Out of PS. Case No.-144 Year-2024 Thana- BISHANPUR District- Darbhanga
                 ======================================================
                 Santosh Sahni S/o- Lal Babu Sahni R/o - Bisoul, Surasthan, P.S - Bishanpur,
                 District - Darbhanga, Bihar
                                                                            ... ... Petitioner/s
                                                  Versus
                 The State of Bihar
                                                                     ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :       Mr. Vinay Kumar Mishra, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :       Mr. Kalyan Shankar, APP
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SUNIL DUTTA MISHRA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   05-01-2026                           Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and

                   learned A.P.P. for the State.

                                     2. The petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case

                   registered under Sections 75, 77, 78 and 79 of the Bharatiya

                   Nyaya Sanhita.

                                   3. As per the F.I.R., it is alleged that the petitioner

                   made a video of the informant secretly while she was bathing

                   and thereafter, started blackmailing her and also made her video

                   viral.

                                   4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the

                   petitioner submits that petitioner is innocent and has falsely

                   been implicated in the present case due to land dispute.

                   Petitioner is brother-in-law of the informant and has never made

                   any video or viral any video of her as alleged. The date of

                   occurrence is not clear from the written report. However, in the
            Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.79395 of 2025(2) dt.05-01-2026
                                                        2/2




                      F.I.R., the date of occurrence is stated as 02.10.2024 but the

                      F.I.R. has been lodged on 02.12.2024 i.e. after two months of

                      delay without any plausible explanation. Petitioner has got no

                      criminal antecedent. He undertakes to cooperate in the

                      investigation and trial and shall not involve in tampering of the

                      evidence.

                                    5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposed the prayer for

                      bail.

                                    6. Having considered the facts and circumstances of

                      the case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties, let

                      the above named petitioner be released on bail, in the event of

                      arrest or surrender before the learned court below within a

                      period of six weeks from today, on furnishing bail bond of

                      Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like

                      amount each to the satisfaction of learned Additional Chief

                      Judicial Magistrate-I, Darbhanga in connection with Bishanpur

                      P.S. Case No. 144 of 2024, subject to the conditions as laid

                      down under Section 482(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha

                      Sanhita.



                                              (Sunil Dutta Mishra, J)
utkarsh/-
U       T

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