LALBIHARI YADAV vs STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

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CGHC010330382026 2026:CGHC:38375
NAFR
HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR
MCRCA No.1421 of 2026
Lalbihari Yadav S/o Shri Ramnath Yadav Aged About 26 Years
Occupation Service, Supervisor, Composite Liquor Shop,
Wadrafnagar, Distt. Balrampur Ramanujganj, Chhattisgarh, R/o
Village Premnagar, P.S. Basantpur, Distt. Balrampur Ramanujganj,
Chhattisgarh. ... Applicant
versus
State Of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Basantpur, Distt.
Balrampur Ramanujganj, Chhattisgarh. . ... Non-applicant
For Applicant : Mr. Akath Kumar Yadav, Advocate.
For Non-applicant/State : Mr. SS Baghel, G.A.
Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice
Order On Board
31.08.2026
1.
The Applicant has preferred this anticipatory bail application
under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha
SISTLA
NEELIMA
VISHNU
PRIYA
Sanhita, 2023 for grant of Anticipatory Bail, apprehending his
Digitally signed by
SISTLA NEELIMA
VISHNU PRIYA
Date: 2026.09.01
11:35:58 +0530

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arrest in connection with Crime No.105/2026, registered at
Police Station – Basantpur, District Balrampur Ramanujganj
(C.G.) for alleged commission of offences punishable under
Sections 316(5) and 318(4) of BNS.
2.
As per the case of prosecution, complainant Abhishek
Rajwade, Shop In-charge, CSD Wadrafnagar, conducted
physical verification of the liquor stock and related records of
the Composite Liquor Shop, Wadrafnagar, for the period from
01.05.2026 to 19.06.2026. During the said verification, it was
allegedly found that the Applicant, while working as the Shop
Supervisor, had collected an amount of Rs.7,59,720/- from
the sale of liquor but had failed to deposit the said amount in
the bank account, thereby allegedly causing wrongful loss to
the Government. Based on these allegations, the present
FIR was registered against the Applicant for the offences
punishable under the aforementioned Sections. Hence, this
application.
3. Learned Counsel for the Applicant submits that the Applicant
is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the present
case. It is submitted that the alleged irregularities relate to
the period from 01.05.2026 to 11.06.2026, whereas the
Applicant had, prior to registration of the present FIR,

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submitted a written complaint dated 23.06.2026 against the
complainant/Shop In-charge Abhishek Rajwade, District
Coordinator Anand Kumar and former District Coordinator
Aditya Gupta, alleging financial irregularities, illegal collection
and misappropriation of the shop’s funds through online and
offline transactions and had also informed the authorities
regarding non-functional CCTV cameras at the shop and
expressed apprehension of his false implication. It is further
submitted that the present FIR was lodged on 04.07.2026,
shortly after the said complaint and therefore, appears to be a
counterblast to the Applicant’s complaint. He further submits
that the Applicant possesses documents and call recordings
relating to the alleged financial transactions and despite
material indicating that an amount of Rs.68,000/- from the
Government collection was transferred online to the private
bank account of the then District Coordinator, the role of the
concerned officials was not fairly investigated and the
Applicant alone was made an accused. It is also submitted
that the alleged offence is based primarily on documentary
and electronic evidence, there is a considerable delay in
lodging the FIR, as the alleged period of occurrence ended
on 19.06.2026 whereas the FIR was registered only on
04.07.2026. It is lastly submitted that the Applicant has no

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criminal antecedents and trial is likely to take considerable
time for its conclusion, therefore, he may be granted the
benefit of anticipatory bail.
4. Per contra, learned State Counsel opposes the bail
application and submits that serious allegations of
misappropriation of Government funds have been levelled
against the Applicant and that his role in the alleged offence
is still under investigation. It is further submitted that the
investigation is at a nascent stage and custodial interrogation
of the Applicant may be required.
5. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the
material available on record.
6. Considering the submissions advanced by learned Counsel
for the parties, the material available in the case diary, the
nature of allegations levelled against the Applicant, the
allegation of misappropriation of an amount of Rs.7,59,720/-
and the fact that the investigation is still in progress and
custodial interrogation of the Applicant may be required,
without further commenting anything on the merits of the
case, this Court is not inclined to extend the benefit of
anticipatory bail to the Applicant.

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7. Accordingly, the Anticipatory Bail application of the Applicant
– Lalbihari Yadav , filed under Section 482 of the BNSS,
2023 in connection with Crime No.105/2026, registered at
Police Station – Basantpur, District Balrampur Ramanujganj
(C.G.) for alleged commission of offences punishable under
Sections 316(5) and 318(4) of BNS is hereby rejected .
8. Office is directed to provide a certified copy of this order to
the trial Court concerned for necessary information.
Sd/-
(Ramesh Sinha)
Chief Justice
Priya