Suman Devi v. The State of Bihar
Case brief
What is this about?
Cancellation-of-bail application (Cr. Misc. No. 26931 of 2024, Patna High Court, decided 18-04-2025, Rajiv Roy, J) filed by petitioner Suman Devi against Opposite Party No. 2 Digvijay Mahto, whose bail had been granted in Cr. Misc. No. 18052/2023 for offences u/s 341, 323, 379, 376, 354B, 448, 504/34 IPC and 4/8 of the POCSO Act (Lakhisarai Mahila P.S. Case No. 40/2022). Grounds raised: undisclosed criminal antecedent. Outcome: rejected/dismissed, because the bail order showed no submission on antecedent and no post-release threat or trial interference was alleged; State counsel (Madan Kumar, APP) stated bail was allowed on parity with similarly situated accused Rajkishore Mahto and Nandkishore Mahto. Petitioner's counsel: Rabindra Kumar. Keywords: cancellation of bail, criminal antecedent, POCSO Act, parity in bail, Lakhisarai.
What did the court decide?
This Court finds force in the State counsel's submission: while considering the bail of O.P. No.2, his counsel made no submission on his criminal antecedent as reflected from the bail order, and it is further not the case of the petitioner that after release from custody he threatened her or hampered the investigation/trial.