Patna High Court
Deepak Sah @ Deepak KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
In the absence of any material linking the petitioner to the seized liquor and jaggery and given that the amendment to the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018, has done away with the concept of deemed possession, the petitioner is entitled to provisional anticipatory bail.
Summary
The petitioner, Deepak Sah, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018, after 20 litres of liquor and 30 kilograms of jaggery were seized from an auto‑rickshaw and a motorcycle. He asserted that he neither owned the vehicles nor had the seized items in his conscious possession and that the only link to him was a confessional statement made by a co‑accused, Mithu, while in police custody. The petitioner highlighted his clean antecedent and argued that the 2018 amendment had abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The State opposed the grant of anticipatory bail. The court, noting the lack of direct evidence against the petitioner and the removal of deemed possession by the amendment, ordered provisional anticipatory bail subject to a modest bond, sureties and verification of any criminal antecedent, with the bail to be confirmed only if the petitioner is found to have a clean record.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted when the petitioner is not in possession of the seized contraband and the only evidence is a confessional statement of a co‑accused.
- Whether the 2018 amendment to the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, which removed the doctrine of deemed possession, precludes the presumption of guilt for the petitioner.
- Whether Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. applies to the grant of provisional anticipatory bail in this context.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- deemed possession
- confessional statement
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- criminal antecedent
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.10327 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-751 Year-2025 Thana- CHAPRA TOWN District- Saran
======================================================
Deepak Sah @ Deepak Kumar Son of Shivji Sah Resident of Mohalla- Sadha,
Dahiyawa, Adda No. 2, P.S.- Mufassil, District- Saran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shekhar Harshvardhan
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Rajendra Prasad Nat
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 16-03-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case
registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of
Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 20 litres of liquor along with 30 kilograms of
Jaggery from an Auto and a motorcycle was seized. It is next
submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such
nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and is not
the owner of any of the seized vehicle and he came to be
implicated based on confessional statement of Mithu in police
custody which does not have any evidentiary value. It is next
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submitted that after amendment in the Excise Act in the year
2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender
has been done away with.
4. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
5. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the
event of his arrest or surrender within a period of six weeks
from today, be released on provisional anticipatory bail on
furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500/- (Rupees five hundred) with
two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the
learned trial court where the case is pending/successor court in
connection with Chapra Town P.S. Case No.751/2025, subject to
the conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the
B.N.S.S.
6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter
shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one
case, in that event, it would be presumed that petitioner had
concealed his antecedent before this court, as such, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed but if
on verification it is found that petitioner is a person with clean
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.10327 of 2026(3) dt.16-03-2026
3/3
antecedent, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
amit/-
U T
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