Bittu Kumar Gupta Vs State of Bihar (Patna High Court)
The Patna High Court considered a writ petition seeking release of a motorcycle confiscated in an excise case. The petitioner challenged an order dated 16.07.2024 passed by the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Gopalganj, directing confiscation of the vehicle after it was found carrying approximately 28.8 litres of liquor. The petitioner asserted that the motorcycle had been stolen prior to the alleged offence and that a theft case had been registered, culminating in a final police report confirming the occurrence as true but with no clue as to the offenders. During the period the vehicle remained with unknown persons, it was intercepted with liquor, leading to registration of an excise case under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018.
The petitioner further contended that the confiscation order was passed without serving any notice or granting an opportunity to show cause. Although the State relied on a purported show-cause notice and a newspaper publication covering multiple vehicles, there was no proof on record of personal service of notice upon the petitioner. The Court examined the record and found no evidence demonstrating dispatch or service of the individual notice. It also scrutinized the newspaper publication and observed that the public notice was printed in such a manner that it was not easily readable and did not effectively convey the petitioner’s name, amounting to a mere formality rather than meaningful notice.
