Patna: After making history by allowing 463 bail applications related to liquor prohibition cases in a single day on Monday, the Patna high court administration, headed by Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo, on Tuesday asked all district and sessions judges in Bihar to exercise optimum discretion while disposing of bail applications in their respective districts. The move was aimed at saving the high court’s precious judicial time for deciding constitutional matters more efficiently.CJ Sahoo said a significant portion of the high court’s judicial clock was consumed by hearing the large volume of pending bail applications, often arising due to the rejection of such applications at the district court level.The chief justice, along with justices Prabhat Kumar Singh, Navneet Kumar Pandey, Satyavrat Verma, Rajesh Kumar Verma, Chandra Shekhar Jha, and Rudra Prakash Mishra, addressed all district judges through videoconferencing on Tuesday evening.Govt’s reply sought on utility certs: Patna High Court Seeks Updated Status on 49,649 Utility CertificatesWhile hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) against alleged irregularities by various state govt departments regarding the issuance of utility certificates (UCs), the Patna high court has directed the state govt to file an updated status report.A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo and Justice Mohit Kumar Shah passed the order on Monday while hearing the PIL filed by one Kishore Kumar.The petitioner alleged that state govt departments defaulted in issuing 49,649 UCs related to budgetary expenditures totalling approximately Rs 70,000 crore for the financial years 2016-17 to 2022-23. He has requested an independent probe into the alleged irregularities.The matter is scheduled for further hearing on March 20.PATCHAction sought against STFAn application has been filed before the Patna high court’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Committee, seeking punitive action against the Bihar police Special Task Force (STF) for disclosing the name of a juvenile arrested last month in connection with a dacoity case registered at Chowk police station, Patna City.Lawyer K D Mishra, in his complaint letter to the chairman and member of the committee, alleged that the STF, in its press release on Dec 30, 2025, revealed the identity of the juvenile, including his name and parentage, which is prohibited under the provisions of juvenile justice laws.
