Patna (Bihar) : Suspended Janata Dal (United) MLC Manorama Devi was on Monday granted bail by the Patna High Court in a case pertaining to six Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) bottles found from her residence in Bihar’s Gaya city.
Manorama’s lawyer Y.V. Giri said that she was released on bail after the High Court ruled that possessing liquor was not illegal in the state.
“Six bottles of liquor was found at Manorama Devi’s home. The ban on liquor in the state does not mention any bar on possession of liquor. The appeal notification says wholesale trade of foreign liquor, retail and consumption of liquor are prohibited. There is no bar on possession. The act on prohibition of liquor is silent on the lines of possession of alcohol,” said Giri.
“The prosecution has not mentioned in its plea whether it is a new stock or old stock. The court has said that possession of liquor is not an offence while adding that she is a lady and was not in the house at the time of search and that she has not been named as an accused in the FIR and has been made an accused after thought merely on the ground that the house belongs to her and asserted that these grounds were not sufficient to detain her in jail,” he added.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) recovered liquor at the suspended JD(U) MLC’s residence when it was carrying out searches to nab her son Rocky Yadav with regard to Aditya Sachdeva’s murder case.
Devi, who is accused of violating prohibition law, was last month sent to 14-day judicial custody. (ANI)