SC grants bail to Bihar woman whose Scooty was driven by cousin with liquor bottles
New Delhi, Apr 24: The Supreme Court granted anticipatory bail to a 21-year-old woman from Patna, who was booked by Bihar police under the prohibition law after her Scooty was driven by her cousin with nine bottles of liquor.
The top court also took a serious note of the fact that the girl was refused anticipatory bail by the high court, and said, "We are clearly of the view that the High Court must not abdicate its constitutional powers and ensure that the personal liberty of the accused in appropriate cases has to be safeguarded."
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant in a recent order said, "Having regard to the facts and circumstances noted above, we confirm the ad-interim order by directing that in the event of the arrest of the appellant, she shall be released on bail forthwith subject to such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the trial court."
It
said
the
appellant
is
a
21-year
old
girl
who
was
denied
anticipatory
bail
by
the
high
court.
"Though
there
is
an
embargo
in
Section
76(2)
of
the
statute,
we
see
no
reason
why
the
High
Court
ought
not
to
have
exercised
its
power
as
a
Constitutional
court
to
grant
anticipatory
bail
to
protect
the
personal
liberty
of
the
accused,
in
a
case
such
as
the
present
where
a
21-year-old
girl
is
sought
to
be
prosecuted
following
the
recovery
of
liquor
bottles
from
a
scooty
which,
though
belonging
to
her,
was
not
being
driven
by
her
at
the
relevant
point
of
time," the
bench
said.
It added that the refusal of the high court to grant anticipatory bail in such cases leads to a proliferation of litigation before this court.
"...
Many
accused
will
not
have
the
resources
or
the
awareness
to
pursue
their
remedies
before
this
court.
Unless
the
High
Court
exercises
its
constitutional
duty
to
protect
personal
liberty,
they
will
continue
to
languish
in
jail,"
the
bench
said.
On
April
7,
the
top
court
while
issuing
notice
to
the
Bihar
government
had
granted
interim
stay
on
the
arrest
of
the
girl
in
connection
with
FIR
registered
at
Police
Station
Rupaspur
of
district
Patna,
Bihar.
It noted that the girl has been denied anticipatory bail by the impugned order of the Single Judge of the Patna High Court dated January 6.
In her plea before the top court, the girl has challenged the high court order and sought anticipatory bail, apprehending arrest in the case registered for offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act of 2016 against the appellant and four other co-accused.
Advocate Gaurav Aggarwal, appearing for the girl, said nine bottles of liquor were allegedly recovered from a scooty belonging to the appellant and the two-wheeler was alleged to have been ridden by one of the co-accused (cousin) of the girl.
The
bench
noted
that
a
charge
sheet
has
been
filed
in
the
case.
Several
cases
arising
out
of
the
state's
prohibition
law
have
reached
the
top
court,
which
has
taken
a
very
critical
view
of
the
cases,
which
has
started
to
clog
the
judicial
system.
On April 5, in another matter, the top court was informed by the state government that "extensive amendments" have been made to the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act of 2016, which was enacted to ban the manufacture, trade, storage, transportation, sale and consumption of liquor in the state.
The apex court is seized of pleas, including the one which challenges the constitutional validity of the Act.
On March 30, the Bihar Assembly had introduced and passed an amendment bill that seeks to make the law less stringent for first-time offenders in the state.
On March 10, the top court during a hearing in another matter related to the law had expressed concern over delay in disposal of bail matters in Patna High Court and suggested that having designated benches to hear cases arising out of Bihar prohibition law will help in bringing in the consistency of relief and efficient disposal of matters.
The Patna High Court had earlier told the top court that there is a "phenomenal increase" in the filing of bail applications due to the enforcement of prohibition in the state and roughly 25 percent of regular bail pleas are being filed under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act alone.
The high court had said it is working with less than half of its sanctioned strength and the increase in the filing of bail applications is causing a delay in disposal of regular bail pleas.
On March 8, the Bihar government has assured the top court that the stringent Bihar liquor law would be changed after the court came down heavily on it for framing such a legislation that has led to thousands languishing in jail and bail matters clogging the judicial system.
Similarly, on January 11, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana had in another matter dismissed a batch of petitions of the Bihar government challenging the grant of anticipatory and regular bails to accused under the state's stringent liquor law, also saying these matters have choked the courts.
The top court had noted that it was a matter of concern if anticipatory bail applications were becoming infructuous because they were taken up for the first time after a year of their filing and regular bail applications had to be filed instead.