Patna High Court Warns Officials Against Misuse of Bihar Crime Control Law
The Patna High Court has cautioned Bihar district magistrates and police chiefs against declaring people antisocial without following due procedure. The court quashed three externment orders and directed the state government to pay Rs 3.9 lakh in compensation to four petitioners.
The Patna High Court has cautioned Bihar district magistrates and superintendents of police against using the state's crime control law without following the required legal procedures.
In three separate orders passed on September 11, the court quashed externment orders issued against four people and directed the Bihar government to pay a combined Rs 3.9 lakh in compensation.
A division bench comprising Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sunil Dutta Mishra passed the orders. The cases were brought before the court through separate criminal writ petitions.
Nalanda externment order quashed
One case concerned Chandan Kumar, an elected panchayati raj representative from Giriyak block in Nalanda district.
The court quashed an externment order issued by the Nalanda district magistrate. Kumar was instead directed to mark his attendance at Silao police station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
The state government was ordered to pay Rs 60,000 to Kumar as compensation.
In another case, the court dealt with Shashi Kumar, alias Fukan, and Ajay Singh, both residents of a village under Katrisarai police station in Nalanda.
The bench quashed an externment order dated October 10, 2025, issued by the Nalanda DM. The court held that the order amounted to an abuse of provisions under Bihar's crime control law.
The state was directed to pay Rs 2.2 lakh in compensation, with Rs 1.1 lakh awarded to each petitioner.
Court criticises roles of Nalanda officials
The bench also criticised the manner in which the Nalanda SP and DM had handled the cases.
The court described the SP as "acting as a post office" and the DM as "acting as a drastic power house" while declaring people accused of minor offences to be antisocial.
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