Sita Devi Vs The State of Bihar — Cheating and Forgery | Patna HC (2026)

Sita Devi Vs The State of Bihar — Cheating and Forgery | Patna HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Provisional pre-arrest bail granted to petitioner Sita Devi on terms and conditions as the learned District Court deems fit and proper, subject to conditions under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C / 482(2) BNSS; District Court further directed to pursue mediated settlement of the dispute; copy of order to be communicated to Member Secretary, Bihar State Legal Services Authority and Patna High Court Mediation Centre.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, implicated in Complaint Case No. 1168/2024 under Sections 318(4) BNS for alleged cheating in a land sale, is entitled to pre-arrest bail. +1 more

Court's answer

Considering the dispute appears civil in nature and the petitioner is willing to compromise regarding the land sold vide Sale Deed No. 3490 for a total consideration of Rs. 4,69,000/-, the petitioner is directed to be released on provisional pre-arrest bail on such terms and conditions as the learned District Court deems fit and proper, subject to the conditions under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C / 482(2) BNSS.

Ratio / Principle

The learned District Court is directed to examine the matter for settlement of the dispute outside the court by way of mediation in light of the law laid down by the Apex Court (Paramjeet Batra; Usha Chakraborty; S.N. Vijayalakshmi), issue notices to the respective parties and refer the matter to the Mediator of the District Mediation Centre under the Mediation Act, 2023, fixing a date for appearance of the parties to give effect to 'Mediation for the Nation 2.0'.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Patna High Court (Purnendu Singh, J.), CR. MISC. No.89775 of 2025, order dated 20-04-2026: Petitioner Sita Devi, accused in Complaint Case No. 1168/2024 (Rohtas) under Sections 318(4) BNS for allegedly cheating the complainant by selling him land for Rs.4,69,000/- (Sale Deed No. 3490), whose mutation application was rejected on the ground that the land belongs to the Government of Bihar, is directed to be released on provisional pre-arrest bail on terms fixed by the learned District Court, subject to conditions under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C / 482(2) BNSS. Considering the dispute appears civil in nature and the petitioner is willing to compromise, the District Court is directed to examine settlement of the dispute outside court by way of mediation in light of Apex Court precedents — Paramjeet Batra v. State of Uttarakhand (2013) 11 SCC 673, Usha Chakraborty v. State of West Bengal (2023) 15 SCC 135 and S.N. Vijayalakshmi v. State of Karnataka (2025) SCC Online SC 1575 — issuing notices and referring the parties to the District Mediation Centre under the Mediation Act, 2023, fixing a date of appearance to give effect to "Mediation for the Nation 2.0". Copy ordered to Member Secretary, Bihar State Legal Services Authority and Patna High Court Mediation Centre.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.89775 of 2025

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-1168 Year-2024 Thana- ROHTAS COMPLAINT CASE District- Rohtas

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

Sita Devi W/o Sri Vinay Kumar Sah Resident of Mohalla- Kila, P.O. and P.S.Sasaram (T), District- Rohtas

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar

Saroj Kumar Vishwakarma S/o Gopal Vishwakarma Resident of MohallaMubarakganj, P.S.- Sasaram (T), District- Rohtas

... ... Opposite Party/s

====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Karu Kumar, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Umeshanand Pandit, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH ORAL ORDER

4 20-04-2026

Heard Mr. Karu Kumar, learned counsel appearing

on behalf of the petitioner and Mr. Umeshanand Pandit, learned APP for the State.

The petitioner seeks pre-arrest bail in connection with Complaint Case No. 1168/2024 registered for the offence(s) punishable under Sections 318(4) of the BNS.

As per the allegations made in the FIR, the petitioner is accused of cheating the complainant by selling him a piece of land for a sum of Rs.4,69,000/-. Subsequently, when the complainant applied online for mutation of the said land, his application was rejected on the ground that the land belongs to the Government of Bihar. When the complainant requested a

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.89775 of 2025(4) dt.20-04-2026 2/3

refund of the amount paid, the petitioner failed to return the same.

Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that petitioner is innocent and has falsely been implicated in the present case. However, on instruction, learned counsel submitted that the matter is purely civil in nature and to buy peace of mind, petitioner wants to settle the dispute amicably outside the Court.

Learned APP appearing on behalf of the State submitted that a chance be given to the parties for amicable settlement outside the court.

Having heard the rival submissions made on behalf of the parties and upon perusal of the allegations made in the FIR, and considering that the dispute appears to be civil in nature, as well as, the fact that the petitioner is willing to compromise in respect of the land allegedly sold vide Sale Deed No. 3490 for a total consideration amount of 4,69,000/-, the₹ petitioner, named above, is directed to be released on provisional pre-arrest bail . on such terms and conditions as the learned District Court deems it fit and proper, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C / 482(2) BNSS.

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.89775 of 2025(4) dt.20-04-2026 3/3

However, the learned District Court is directed to examine the matter for settlement of the dispute outside the court by way of mediation in light of the law laid down by the Apex Court in cases of Paramjeet Batra v. State of Uttarakhand, (2013) 11 SCC 673, Usha Chakraborty v. State of West Bengal, (2023) 15 SCC 135 and S.N. Vijayalakshmi & Ors. Vrs. The State of Karnataka and Anr. reported in (2025) SCC Online SC 1575 and take necessary steps to issue notices to the respective parties and upon their appearance refer the matter before the learned Mediator of the District Mediation Centre under the provision of Mediation Act, 2023 by fixing a date for appearance of the parties to give effect to “Mediation for the Nation 2.0”.

The bail application stands disposed of.

Let a copy of this order be communicated to the Member Secretary, Bihar State Legal Services Authority and the Patna High Court Mediation Centre for the purpose of record.

(Purnendu Singh, J)

Sanjay/-

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