Patna High Court
Dhanu PaswanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
Holding
The court held that, in the absence of any evidence of the petitioner's involvement and given the small quantity of liquor, the vehicle must be released upon payment of a modest penalty of Rs 2,000.
Summary
Dhanu Paswan filed a writ petition under Article 226 seeking the release of his TVS motorcycle, which was seized after two individuals riding it were found with 1.5 litres of illicit liquor. The petitioner was not named in the FIR and claimed no involvement in the offence. The court examined Rule 12A of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2023 and 2022, which require consideration of the quantity of intoxicant, the owner's involvement, and economic status when imposing a penalty for release. Relying on a prior decision (Rakesh Kumar Singh v. State of Bihar) that excessive penalties cause hardship, the court held that a modest penalty of Rs 2,000 was appropriate. Accordingly, the court ordered the petitioner to pay the penalty within three weeks and release the motorcycle, disposing of the writ petition.
Issues considered
- Whether a vehicle owner who is not an accused in the FIR can be compelled to undergo confiscation proceedings under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
- Whether the penalty prescribed under Rule 12A can be imposed given the meager quantity of illicit liquor and lack of evidence of the owner's involvement.
- Whether the seized vehicle should be released on payment of a reasonable penalty.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 — s. 57B, 58, 92, 93
Subjects
- Article 226
- writ petition
- vehicle seizure
- penalty
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- illicit liquor
- release of seized vehicle
- proportionality
- economic hardship
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 618 of 2026
======================================================
Dhanu Paswan Son of Arjun Paswan, Resident of Village-Kori, P.S.-Dinara,
District-Rohtas.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Registration and Bihar
Prohibition and Excise Department, Government of Bihar, Patna.
2. The District Magistrate cum Excise Confiscating Authority, Rohtas at
Sasaram.
3. The Superintendent of Police, Rohtas at Sasaram.
4. The Assistant Commissioner of Excise Prohibition Department, Sasaram,
Rohtas.
5. The Inspector, Excise Prohibition P.S. Bikaramganj, Sasaram.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Babu Nandan Prasad, Advocate
For the Respondent/s : Mr. Rajeshwar Singh, GA-10
Mr. Jitendra Kumar, AC to GA-10
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ARUN KUMAR JHA
ORAL JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH)
Date: 16-03-2026
At the outset learned counsel for the petitioner seeks
permission to delete prayer no. 1(i) during the course of the day.
Permission so sought is granted. Let the needful be done during
the course of the day.
02. The present writ petition has been filed for directing the
respondents to release the TVS motorcycle of the petitioner
Patna High Court CWJC No.618 of 2026 dt.16-03-2026
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bearing Registration No. BR-24AQ-7497.
03. The present case arises out of an FIR bearing Bikramganj
(Prohibition and Excise) P.S. Case No. 217 of 2025 dated
18.09.2025, registered under Section 30(a) of the Bihar
Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 (hereinafter
referred to as the 'Act, 2018'), against Krishna Kumar, Mannu
Kumar and Santosh Kumar Chandravanshi, a bare perusal
whereof would show that on 18.09.2025 at about 6.20 PM,
while two persons, namely Krishna Kumar and Mannu Kumar
were riding the motorcycle of the petitioner, the same was
intercepted by the police personnel and upon search 1.5 liters of
illicit country made liquor was recovered, leading to
registration of the aforesaid FIR in question and seizure of the
motorcycle of the petitioner.
04. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
Mannu Kumar is younger brother of the petitioner and in fact
the motorcycle in question belongs to the petitioner. It is further
submitted that considering the fact that the petitioner is not
named in the FIR, he has not been shown to be having any
complicity in the alleged occurrence and the quantity of illicit
liquor recovered from the motorcycle in question is meager, the
motorcycle in question be released in favour of the petitioner
Patna High Court CWJC No.618 of 2026 dt.16-03-2026
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upon payment of reasonable amount of penalty.
05. Per contra, the learned counsel for the State-respondents
submits that the confiscation proceedings have already been
initiated, however it has not been denied that the petitioner is
not an accused in the aforesaid FIR in question and no material
has been brought on record, in the counter affidavit to show that
the petitioner is having any complicity in the alleged
occurrence.
06. We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and
perused the materials on record. At this juncture, we would like
to reproduce Rule 12A (2) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise
(Amendment) Rules, 2023 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Rules,
2023') herein below:-
"Rule 12A (Release of Vehicles, Conveyance etc. on
Payment of Penalty):-
"(2) The amount of penalty shall be as decided by the
Collector or the Officer authorized by him. While
imposing the penalty, he shall have due regard to the
quantity of intoxicant recovered, involvement of the
vehicle owner and the latest insurance value of the
vehicle. In no case, the penalty should be less than 10%
of the insured value of the vehicle and more than Rs. 5
lakhs. The insured value is the value of the vehicle as
assessed by the insurance company. Where, the insured
value is not available or the Collector or the Officer
authorized by him has reason to believe that the vehicle
is undervalued, he shall get the valuation done by the
District Transport Officer.
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In any case, the Collector shall not wait beyond 15 days
from the date of seizure and if during this period, the
accused/owner does not pay up the penalty, he shall
proceed with the confiscation/auction."
07. A bare perusal of Rule 12A(2) of the Rules, 2023 would
show that while imposing penalty, the quantity of intoxicant
recovered is also required to be considered. Nonetheless, at this
juncture we would like to refer to an order dated 26.11.2025,
passed by a coordinate Bench of this Court in CWJC No.
14928 of 2025 (Rakesh Kumar Singh vs. the State of Bihar &
Ors.), wherein it has been held as under:-
"In absence of any specific ground that the vehicle was
in regular use for transportation of liquors or that the
owner of the vehicle was found involved in
transportation of the liquors and/or there was multiple
cases of similar nature against the owner or the vehicle,
imposition of the penalty to the extent of 75 per cent of
the insured value is an onerous condition and it amounts
to virtually creating a situation where huge hardship may
be caused to an owner of the vehicle in getting release of
the vehicle.
08. Yet another aspect of the matter is that Rule 12A (4) of
the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2022
provides that while imposing fine, the Collector or the officer
authorized by him shall have due regard to the economic status
of the individual, nature of his involvement in the crime and the
quantum of intoxicant recovered.
09. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the
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case as also taking into account the fact that meager quantity of
1.5 liters of illicit liquor has been recovered, no material has
been brought on record, in the counter affidavit filed by the
respondents, to show that either the petitioner/his vehicle was
regularly involved in transportation of illicit liquor or the
petitioner is involved in multiple cases of similar nature, which
are also the factors required to be considered while imposing
penalty for release of the vehicle, as has been provided under
Rule 12A(2) of the Rules, 2023 and Rule 12A(4) of the Rules,
2022 apart from the fact that the petitioner is not an accused in
the aforesaid FIR and no material has been brought on record to
show that the petitioner is having any complicity in the alleged
occurrence, we are of the considered view that it would be in
the interest of justice and equitable, if the petitioner is directed
to pay a sum of Rs. 2,000/- by way of penalty for the purposes
of release of the motorcycle in question.
10. At this juncture, the learned counsel for the petitioner
submits that the petitioner would be depositing a sum of Rs.
2,000/- within a period of three weeks from today and shall
make available the documents of ownership of the motorcycle
in question before the competent authority.
11. It is needless to state that the present order has been
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passed by us while invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the reason that
unnecessarily the petitioner shall be liable to be subjected to
various proceedings like the one under Rule 12A of the Rules,
2023, Section 57B, 58, 92 and 93 of the Bihar Prohibition and
Excise Act, 2016, as amended upto date, for a meager recovery
of 1.5 liters of illicit liquor, as also with a view to avoid and
prevent multiplicity of proceedings, in the interest of justice.
12. Accordingly, the present writ petition stands disposed of
on the aforesaid terms.
(Mohit Kumar Shah, J)
(Arun Kumar Jha, J)
DKS/-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 25.03.2026
Transmission Date NA
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