Shabana Perween vs The State Of Bihar
2021 Latest Caselaw 4116 Patna

           IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                   CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No. 41027 of 2021
          Arising Out of PS. Case No.-8 Year-2021 Thana- DHOLBAJJA District- Bhagalpur
      ======================================================

1. Shabana Perween, Female, aged about 41 years, Wife of Md. Imtiyaz Alam.

2. Md. Imtiyaz Alam @ Imteyaz Alam, Male, aged about 48 years, Son of Md.

Jabbar Hussain.

Both residents of village- Ujani, PS- Naugachia, District- Bhagalpur.

... ... Petitioner/s Versus The State of Bihar

... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. P K Shahi, Senior Advocate with Mr. Md. Najmul Hodda, Advocate For the State : Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyay, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE AHSANUDDIN AMANULLAH ORAL JUDGMENT Date : 16-08-2021

The matter has been heard via video conferencing.

2. The case has been taken up out of turn on the basis of

motion slip filed by learned counsel for the petitioners on

03.08.2021, which was allowed.

3. Heard Mr. P K Shahi, learned senior counsel along

with Mr. Md. Najmul Hodda, learned counsel for the petitioners

and Mr. Jharkhandi Upadhyay, learned Additional Public

Prosecutor (hereinafter referred to as the 'APP') for the State.

4. The petitioners, who are wife and husband, apprehend

arrest in connection with Dholbajja (Kadwa) PS Case No. 08 of Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.41027 of 2021 dt.16-08-2021

2021 dated 24.01.2021, instituted under Sections 8(c), 22(b) of

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

5. The allegation against the petitioners, who are wife

and husband is that the 16 cartons containing bottles of Wiscof

syrup, each of 100 ml., which was seized from the possession of

arrested co-accused Abhiram Kumar had been bought from the

shop of which petitioner no. 1, who is the licensee and petitioner

no. 2 who is the authorized agent of petitioner no. 1, both were

present in the shop when such purchase was made.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that no

allegation is made out from the entire reading of the FIR, as even

if it is accepted that the medicines which were seized by the police

had been sold by the petitioners, they being the legal distributors,

both wholesale and retail, had committed no offence by selling it

to any person. It was submitted that the agency of the petitioners

has a licence to deal in such drugs and further that the amount

which has been seized had been purchased by them from a

wholesaler of the said drugs prior to the date on which the

medicines were seized. Learned counsel submitted that the

petitioners cannot be held responsible for any misuse by any

person who had bought the medicines. Further, it was submitted

that the two licences of the petitioners' agency, one related to the Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.41027 of 2021 dt.16-08-2021

godown and the other to the shop, is valid till 2023 and 2025. It

was submitted that the petitioners have an unblemished record

having no other criminal antecedence. Moreover, from an

academic point of view, learned senior counsel submitted that

such statement by the arrested co-accused before the police has no

value in the eyes of law.

7. Learned APP submitted that the person who has been

caught with the drugs has stated he had bought the same from the

shop of the petitioners.

8. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the

case and submissions of learned counsel for the parties, the

petitioners having licence to deal in drugs, both as wholesalers

and as retailers and having purchased the syrups in question from

the authorised agency as also having no criminal antecedent, the

Court is inclined to allow their prayer for pre-arrest bail.

9. Accordingly, in the event of arrest or surrender before

the Court below within six weeks from today, the petitioners be

released on bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 25,000/-

(twenty five thousand) each with two sureties of the like amount

each to the satisfaction of the learned Sessions Judge, Bhagalpur

in Dholbajja (Kadwa) PS Case No. 08 of 2021, subject to the

conditions laid down in Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.41027 of 2021 dt.16-08-2021

Procedure, 1973 and further, (i) that one of the bailors shall be a

close relative of the petitioners and (ii) that the petitioners shall

co-operate with the Court and police/prosecution. Failure to co-

operate shall lead to cancellation of their bail bonds.

10. It shall also be open for the prosecution to bring any

violation of the foregoing conditions of bail by the petitioners, to

the notice of the Court concerned, which shall take immediate

action on the same after giving opportunity of hearing to the

petitioners.

11. The petition stands disposed of in the

aforementioned terms.

(Ahsanuddin Amanullah, J.)

P. Kumar

AFR/NAFR U T