Patna High Court

Nitish Kumar Singh and OrsversusThe State of Bihar and Ors

Decided: 19 February 2026
Disposal: ALLOWED
Bench: AJIT KUMAR

Holding

The Court held that the writ petition should be restored as the procedural defect was not deliberate or mala fide and justice required reinstatement.

Summary

The petitioners, a group of individuals from Aurangabad district, filed a criminal writ petition (Cr. W.J.C. No.3062 of 2018) which was dismissed on 10 January 2019 for non‑prosecution due to procedural defects. They later applied for restoration of the dismissed writ, contending that the defects were unavoidable, not deliberate, and not mala fide. The State of Bihar and its officials opposed the restoration, arguing that the procedural lapse justified the dismissal. The Court examined whether a writ dismissed for non‑compliance could be revived when the defect was not intentional and whether the interest of justice warranted such relief. Finding no malice and deeming the defect curable, the Court allowed the application and ordered the writ petition to be restored to its original file. Consequently, the petitioners’ remedy was reinstated, enabling further proceedings on the merits.

Issues considered

Whether a criminal writ petition dismissed for non‑prosecution due to procedural defects can be restored
Whether the defect was deliberate or mala fide, justifying the dismissal
Whether the interest of justice permits restoration of the writ

Subjects

restoration of writ
non‑prosecution
procedural defect
interest of justice
criminal writ jurisdiction

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                               Miscellaneous Jurisdiction Case No.868 of 2019
                                                     In
                              Criminal Writ Jurisdiction Case No.3062 of 2018
                 ======================================================
           1.     Nitish Kumar Singh and Ors S/oMukesh Kumar Singh R/o Vill.-
                  Ratanua,P.S. Aurangabad(Mufassil),Dist-Aurangabad
           2.    Navin kumar S/o Bipin Prasad Sinha R/o Vill.-Baratpur,Dharnidhar
                 Road,P.S. Aurangabad (Mufassil),Dist-Aurangabad
           3.    Nikhil Singh @ Nikhil Kumar S/o Late Mithlesh Singh R/o Vill.-Karma
                 Bigha P.S. P.S. Town ,Dist-Aurangabad
           4.    Munna Yadav @ Munna Yadav S/o Ramasish Yadav R/o Vill.-Ledha P.S.
                 Deo Dist-Aurangabad
           5.    Shashi Kumar Singh @ Shashi Kumar S/o Pramod Singh R/o Vill.-
                 Kamat,P.S. Madanpur ,Dist-Aurangabad
           6.    Prithivi Singh S/o Vinod Prasad Singh R/o Vill.-Sanghat Road
                 Madanpur,P.S. Madanpur,Dist-Aurangabad

                                                                            ... ... Petitioner/s
                                                   Versus

           1.    The State of Bihar and Ors through the Chief Secretary,Govt. of Bihar
           2.    Principal Secretary, Department of Home (Police) Gov. of Bihar,Patna
           3.    Director General cum Inspector General of Police,Govt. of Bihar,Patna
           4.    District Magistrate, Aurangabad
           5.    Superintendent of Police, Aurangabad
           6.    Office In Charge, of Town Police Station,Aurangabad

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :   Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :   Mr. Prabhat Kumar Verma (AAG-3)
                                              Dr. Mankeshwar Tiwari, AC to AAG-3
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AJIT KUMAR
                                       ORAL ORDER

3   19-02-2026                  Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned

                   counsel for the Opposite parties.

                                2. In view of the submissions made by the learned

                   counsel for the petitioner, the defect(s) as pointed out by the
           Patna High Court MJC No.868 of 2019(3) dt.19-02-2026
                                                       2/2




                     Office/Stamp Reporter, are ignored.

                                  3. The present application has been filed for

                     restoration of Cr. W.J.C. No.3062 of 2018, which stood

                     dismissed on 10.01.2019 due to non-prosecution.

                                  4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the

                     due to unavoidable circumstances, he could not remove the

                     defect(s) and latches were neither deliberate nor malafide and

                     consequently Cr. W.J.C. No.3062 of 2018 was dismissed on

                     10.01.2019 due to non-compliance.

                                  5. For the reasons stated in this application and in the

                     interest of justice, the present M.J.C. is allowed and the writ

                     petition bearing Cr. W.J.C. No.3062 of 2018 is restored to its

                     original file.



                                                   (Ajit Kumar, J)
sharun/-

U

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