Broad reading of "public place" under Bihar excise law included a private vehicle on a public road.

A private vehicle intercepted on a public road was treated as falling within "public place" under Section 2(17A) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 for the purpose of Section 53(a). The Court read the definition as covering any place accessible to the public, whether as of right or not, and relied on the inclusive earlier definition of "place" in the Bihar Excise Act, 1915, which expressly included a vehicle. The broader prohibition framework and the later express reference to private transport in the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 supported that interpretation. The challenge on the ground that a private vehicle was excluded therefore failed.

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Issues: Whether a private vehicle travelling on a public road fell within the expression "public place" under Section 2(17A) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 for the purpose of Section 53(a) of that Act.

Analysis: The definition of "public place" in Section 2(17A) covered any place to which the public had access, whether as a matter of right or not. The earlier definition of "place" in Section 2(17) of the Bihar Excise Act, 1915 was inclusive and specifically included a vehicle. Read with the object of the prohibition regime and the fact that the vehicle was intercepted on a public road, a private vehicle could not be excluded from the ambit of "public place" merely because it was not a public conveyance. The later enactment in Section 2(54) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, which expressly included private transport, was noticed as supporting the broader statutory approach, though the controversy had to be decided on the earlier amendment.

Conclusion: A private vehicle on a public road was held to be covered by the expression "public place" under Section 2(17A) of the Bihar Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016, and the appellants' challenge on that ground failed.

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