Allowed¶20

Lila Devi v. The State of Bihar

Patna HC12 Nov 2025CR. APP (SJ)/5177/2024

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

anticipatory bail; SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989; Section 14A(2) appeal; Section 18 SC/ST Act bar inapplicable; Section 438(2) CrPC conditions; informant not a Scheduled Caste (Tanti caste removed from SC list); no specific allegation against lady accused; FIR against eleven persons; marpit; land dispute genesis; Dandari P.S. Case No. 50/2024, Begusarai; ABA No. 1352/2024; bail bond Rs. 20,000/- with two sureties; appeal allowed; impugned order set aside.

What did the court decide?

Appeal allowed; impugned rejection order set aside; anticipatory bail granted — appellant to be released on arrest/surrender within four weeks before the Court below on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 20,000/- with two sureties of the like amount each, subject to conditions under Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. ¶20

Lila Devi Vs The State of Bihar — Anticipatory Bail | Patna HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

¶20

Issue for consideration

Whether the offences of the SC/ST Act under which the FIR was registered are applicable, given the informant's caste is Tanti, stated to have been removed from the list of Scheduled Castes. +2 more

¶17

Court's answer

It is an admitted position that the informant does not fall in the category of Scheduled Caste; the learned Spl.PP for the State accepted this submission regarding the offences of the SC/ST Act not being applicable.

¶19

Ratio / Principle

In the FIR there is no specific allegation against the appellant, who is a lady; the FIR was registered against several persons, and a land dispute is said to be the genesis of the occurrence.

¶19

Key takeaways

In the court's opinion, the appellant deserves the privilege of anticipatory bail as her prayer is not hit by Section 18 of the SC/ST Act.ratio¶19
The instant appeal stands allowed and the impugned order is set aside.ratio¶20
The appellant, in the event of her arrest/surrender within four weeks before the Court below, is to be released on bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 20,000/- with two sureties of the like amount each, subject to the conditions under Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court, Criminal Appeal (SJ) No. 5177 of 2024 (oral order, Shailendra Singh J, 12-11-2025): Appeal under section 14A(2) of the SC/ST Act, 1989 by Lila Devi against rejection (order dated 06.07.2024, Exclusive Special Judge, SC/ST (PoA) Act, Begusarai) of her anticipatory-bail prayer in ABA No. 1352/2024 arising out of Dandari P.S. Case No. 50/2024 (FIR registered against eleven persons; occurrence characterised as simple marpit with a land dispute as genesis). The learned Spl.PP conceded, and the court treated as admitted, that the informant (caste Tanti) does not fall in the category of Scheduled Caste; the FIR contained no specific allegation against the lady appellant. Holding that her prayer was not hit by Section 18 of the SC/ST Act, the court allowed the appeal, set aside the impugned order and granted anticipatory bail: release upon arrest/surrender within four weeks on a bail bond of Rs. 20,000/- with two like sureties, subject to Section 438(2) CrPC conditions.

¶1

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL APPEAL (SJ) No.5177 of 2024

¶2

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-50 Year-2024 Thana- DANDARI District- Begusarai

¶3

======================================================

¶4

Lila Devi Wife of Chandramauli Sharma @ Chandan Sharma Resident of Village- Ward No. 01, Sisauni Kothi, VTC, Sisauni, P.O.- Sisauni Kothi, P.S.Dandari, District- Begusarai

¶5

... ... Appellant/s

¶6

Versus

¶7

The State of Bihar

¶8

Priyanka Kumari Wife of Gunjan Kumar Resident of Village- Ward No. 01, Sisauni Kothi, VTC, Sisauni, P.O.- Sisauni Kothi, P.S.- Dandari, DistrictBegusarai.

¶9

... ... Respondent/s

¶10

====================================================== Appearance : For the Appellant/s : Mr. Pritish Kumar Lal, Adv. For the Respondent/s : Ms. Usha Kumari 1, Spl.PP ======================================================

¶11

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAILENDRA SINGH ORAL ORDER

¶12

4 12-11-2025 Heard Mr. Pritish Kumar Lal, learned counsel for the

¶13

appellant and Ms. Usha Kumari No. 1, learned Spl.PP for the State.

¶14

2. The instant appeal has been preferred by the appellant under section 14A(2) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (in short ‘SC/ST Act’), against the order dated 06.07.2024 passed by the court of learned Exclusive Special Judge, SC/ST, (PoA) Act, Begusarai, in connection with ABA No. 1352/2024, arising out of Dandari P.S. Case No. 50/2024, by which the appellant's prayer for anticipatory bail has been rejected.

¶15

3. The main submissions advanced by the learned

¶16

Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.5177 of 2024(4) dt.12-11-2025 2/3

¶17

counsel for the appellant are that the matter relates to the simple marpit and the offences of the SC/ST Act under which the FIR has been registered are not applicable in the instant matter as the informant does not belong to SC/ST category as her caste is Tanti and the same has been removed from the list of the Scheduled Castes and further in the FIR, there is no specific allegation against the appellant and the FIR has been registered against eleven personss.

¶18

4. Learned Spl. PP appearing for the State has accepted the aforesaid submission regarding the informant not falling under the category of Scheduled Caste.

¶19

5. Considering the aforesaid submissions and mainly the fact that it is in admitted position that the informant does not fall in the category of Scheduled Caste and in the FIR, there is no specific allegation against the appellant who is a lady and the same has been registered against several persons and a land dispute is said to be the genesis of the occurrence, in my opinion, the appellant deserves the privilege of anticipatory bail as her prayer is not hit by Section 18 of the SC/ST Act.

¶20

6. Accordingly, the instant appeal stands allowed and the impugned order is hereby set aside.

¶21

7. Let the appellant, above named, in the event of her

¶22

Patna High Court CR. APP (SJ) No.5177 of 2024(4) dt.12-11-2025 3/3

¶23

arrest/surrender within four weeks from today before the Court below, be released on bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive Special Judge, SC/ST, (PoA) Act, Begusarai, arising out of Dandari P.S. Case No. 50/2024, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

¶24

(Shailendra Singh, J)

¶25

Rajiv/-

¶26

U T

Lila Devi v. The State of Bihar

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Lila Devi v. The State of Bihar

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

Issues for consideration

Statutes considered

Procedural history

Parties & counsel

Coram

Case details

Similar cases

Ranjana Devi Vs The State of Bihar

Ram Naresh Singh Vs The State of Bihar

Santosh Kumar Pathak @ Shantosh Pathak Vs The State of Bihar

Gita Devi Vs The State of Bihar

Ramesh Pandey Vs The State of Bihar

Ram Kumar Mandal Vs The State of Bihar