PATNA, India, July 14 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on June 17:

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.69249 of 2021

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-196 Year-2018 Thana- RAJNAGAR District- Madhubani

MD. SABIR Son of Abdul Rashid Resident of Village Babubarhi, P.S. Babubarhi, District - Madhubani. ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar Bihar ... Opposite Party/s

Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s: Mr. Ajay Kumar Thakur, Advocate Mr. Shivam, Advocate Ms. Kajal, Advocate Mr. Purushottam Kumar, Advocate

For the Opposite Party/s: Mr. Uday Pratap Singh, APP

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANSUL

ORAL JUDGMENT

Date: 17-06-2026

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.

2. Petitioner seeks quashing of the order of cognizance dated 06.08.2021 passed in connection with Rajnagar P.S. Case No. 196 of 2018 by which the learned Additional Sessions Judge II-cum-Special Judge, Excise Act, Madhubani has taken cognizance of the offence under Sections 272, 273/34 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 30(a), 36, 38(1)(2) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.

3. The prosecution case, in brief, is that on 15.06.2018 information was received that illicit liquor procured by Ramadhin Rai and Ram Karan Rai of village Ekamma had been concealed in the newly constructed building of Shishupal +2 High School. Acting on the information, a police team conducted a raid at the school and in absence of independent witnesses carried out the search in presence of two team members. During the search, 1,345.83 litres of foreign liquor were recovered from five rooms. The liquor was allegedly linked to Ram Adhin Rai and Ram Karan Rai. Ram Adhin Rai was apprehended, while Ram Karan Rai was absconding. It was further alleged that the Headmaster, being in charge of the school premises, failed to inform the authorities about the illegal storage.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that he has been falsely implicated in the present case. The prosecution has failed to attribute any overt act or direct involvement of the petitioner in the present case. The petitioner has been arrayed merely on account of his official position as the Headmaster of the Shishupal +2 High School which, in absence of any specific allegation and evidence, is legally unsustainable. It is further submitted that criminal liability cannot be fastened on the basis of administrative or supervisory control alone, particularly when the petitioner had neither participated in the seizure nor in the investigation, nor is he a witness to the alleged recovery. The continuation of criminal proceedings against the petitioner, therefore, amounts to an abuse of the process of law and is liable to be quashed.

5. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State has vehemently opposed the quashing of the order of cognizance dated 06.08.2021.

6. The records would reveal that the liability is being cast upon the petitioner merely because he was Headmaster of the Shishupal +2 High School where the alleged occurrence took place. No overt act has been attributed to him. No knowledge of the illegal storage has been alleged against him. No role, active or passive, beyond the bare fact of his administrative position, finds mention anywhere in the charge sheet or the material placed before the Court below. The liability sought to be cast upon the petitioner is, in substance, nothing more than an assertion of vicarious liability.

7. It is a settled principle of law that vicarious liability, unless created by statute, will not be applicable in criminal prosecution. Neither the Indian Penal Code nor the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 creates any such statutory vicarious liability upon a headmaster or a person in administrative charge of premises where an offence is alleged to have been committed by others. In the absence of any specific allegation of knowledge, facilitation, or active involvement, the continuation of criminal proceedings against the petitioner cannot be sustained and amounts to an abuse of the process of the Court.

8. In such view of the matter, the order of cognizance dated 06.08.2021 passed in connection with Rajnagar P.S. Case No. 196 of 2018 by the learned Additional Sessions Judge-II-cum-Special Judge, Excise Act, Madhubani is quashed so far as the petitioner is concerned.

9. Accordingly, the present petition stands allowed.

(Ansul, J)

abhishekkr/

AFR/NAFR: NAFR

CAV DATE: NA

Uploading Date: 18.06.2026

Transmission Date: 18.06.2026

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.