Two brothers from Sarlahi who spent more than a month in an Indian prison on charges of fertiliser smuggling have been granted bail by a district court in Sitamarhi, Bihar.

A single bench of associate special judge Akhilesh Kumar Jha at the Dumra District Court on Wednesday ordered the release of 55-year-old Suresh Prasad Singh and 60-year-old Nagendra Prasad Singh, both residents of Balara Municipality-5 in Sarlahi.

The brothers were arrested on July 1 by a joint team of India’s Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and the Agriculture Department while returning from the border town of Sonbarsha with two bags of urea and six bags of diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser. They said the fertiliser was meant for use on their farm.

Indian authorities charged them with fertiliser smuggling and remanded them to Dumra Jail.

Defence advocate Sanjay Kumar Jha, who represented the brothers along with advocate Kiran Chaudhary, said the release process would take around two days.

According to Jha, court documents will be prepared and sent to Dumra Jail on Thursday, where the brothers will sign the bail papers. The documents will then be returned to the court to complete the process after their relatives submit land ownership documents as collateral.

“Once the court issues the final release order to the prison authorities, both men will be released,” Jha said.

Although they will be released on bail, the brothers will have to appear before the Dumra court once a month while legal proceedings continue.

The farmers had crossed the border to buy small quantities of fertiliser for their own cultivation as Nepal faced severe shortages during the peak paddy planting season. Such cross-border purchases are common among communities living along the border.

After reports of their arrest emerged, Minister for Foreign Affairs Shishir Khanal initiated diplomatic coordination through the Nepali Embassy in New Delhi.

Abhishek Singh, Suresh’s son, welcomed the court’s decision but said the case reflected the difficulties faced by farmers in border areas.

“It is a relief that my father and uncle have been granted bail, albeit late,” he said. “They were jailed simply for trying to buy fertiliser, yet chemical fertiliser remains unavailable in Nepal. This is deeply unfortunate.”

Under India’s Fertiliser Control Order (FCO) and the Essential Commodities Act-1955, subsidised agricultural fertilisers are classified as essential commodities. Their unauthorised movement or commercial export across the border is prohibited.