2025:CGHC:60442 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRCA No. 1945 of 2025 Smt. Hazratul Bibi W/o Mahiuddin Khan Aged About 54 Years R/o Village Pent, Ps Sitapur, District Surguja C.G.

… Applicant versus State of Chhattisgarh Through Police Station Sitapur, District Surguja C.G.

... Non-Applicant For Applicant : Mr. Priyank Rathi, Advocate.

For Non-Applicant/State : Mr. Jitendra Shrivastava, Government Advocate.

Digitally signed by Hon'ble Mr. Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice PREETI PREETI KUMARI KUMARI D 20 a 2 te 5 : .12.12 Order on Board

13:14:56 +0530

11.12.2025

1. This anticipatory bail application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 has been filed by the applicant, who is apprehending her arrest in connection with Crime No. 262/2024 registered at Police Station – Sitapur, District – Surguja (C.G.) for the offence punishable under Sections 409, 420 of the Indian Penal Code (In short, IPC) and Sections 3, 7 of Essential Commodity Act.

2. The prosecution’s case against the present applicant is based on a written complaint submitted by the Food Inspector. It is alleged that the applicant committed offences under Sections 409 and 420 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act. On the verbal instructions of the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Sitapur, the complainant inspected the government fair price shop in Pent village on 12.04.2024. The shop was operated by Khadya Suraksha Poshan Evam Upbhokta Seva Sahakari Samiti Maryadit, Pent. The seller of the shop was Imamul Haq, and the President of the Society was Hazratul Bibi. During inspection and physical verification of the shop records for the period from 01.09.2023 to 12.04.2024, the complainant allegedly found a shortage of 171.83 quintals of rice, 1.28 quintals of sugar, and 1.58 quintals of gram, amounting to a total value of Rs. 6,41,714.35. It is alleged that Imamul Haq and the applicant, in her capacity as President of the Society, embezzled the said food grains and fraudulently misappropriated them for unlawful gain. A report to this effect was submitted to the Sub-Divisional Officer (Revenue), Sitapur on 30.04.2024. On the basis of the said complaint, an FIR under Sections 409 and 420 IPC, along with offences under Sections 3 and 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, was registered against the applicant and co-accused Imamul Haq pursuant to the order dated 29.08.2024 of the SDO (Revenue), Sitapur. The applicant now has a reasonable apprehension of arrest in connection with the said offences and has therefore preferred the present application for anticipatory bail.

3. It has been argued by the learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in this case. It is submitted that the commodities supplied to the fair price shop for public distribution were consistently short by approximately 10 quintals of rice, gram, and sugar every month from the government depot itself. Owing to this continuous short-supply, discrepancies naturally appeared in the physical stock position of the fair price shop. During verification conducted through the Chhattisgarh e-POS system on 09.06.2024, it was found that only 16 quintals of rice was short, while sugar and gram were fully balanced. The variation was duly reconciled through the e-POS system, and no misappropriation or diversion was reported. The operator had not received the commission payable for two years, nor had the bardana (sack) charges been released. These outstanding dues contributed to the financial and stock variance and were accordingly adjusted during reconciliation. The officials themselves confirmed that this accounting adjustment sufficiently explained the discrepancy. After e-POS reconciliation and considering the admitted short-supply from the government depot, the officials informed the operator that no adverse report would be lodged as the shortage stood satisfactorily explained. Despite this, the FIR has been registere