Patna High Court
Ajay YadavversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to bond, sureties and verification of the petitioner’s antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Ajay Yadav, sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case under Sections 30(a) and 36 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018, where 10 litres of liquor were allegedly recovered from two motorcycles. He argued that he was not arrested on the spot, had no conscious possession of the liquor, and was not the owner of the vehicles, contending that the investigation relied on secret information. The State opposed the bail. The Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a Rs.10,000 bond with two sureties and subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent. If the verification shows more than two prior cases, the bail will not be confirmed; if only two, it will be confirmed. The order was made under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. and Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018.
- Whether the petitioner’s prior criminal antecedent affects the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Narcotic and Substance (BNSS) Act — s. 482(2)
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- criminal antecedent
- Section 438
- Section 482
- bail conditions
- excise offence
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.1172 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-52 Year-2022 Thana- CHANDI District- Bhojpur
======================================================
Ajay Yadav S/O Jilal Singh @ Jilal Yadav R/O Vill.- Salempur, P.S.- Chandi,
Dist.- Bhojpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shiv Prasad Gupta, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms. Veena Kumari Jaiswal, A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 20-01-2026 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 offences punishable under Sections 30(a) and
36 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner has antecedent of two cases under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 10 litres of liquor from two
motorcycles.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession. It is further submitted
that petitioner is not the owner of any of the seized vehicles and
came to be implicated based on the secret information which is
the easiest way to implicate someone without holding a proper
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.1172 of 2026(2) dt.20-01-2026
2/3
in investigation of the case. It is next submitted that once an
accused is implicated in a case relating to excise the police start
implicating mechanically without holding a proper investigation
of the case either at the instance of the Chawkidar, local person,
secret information or confessional statement.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioner, let the petitioner above-named, in the
event of his arrest or surrender before the learned trial court
within a period of six weeks from today, be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of
Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) 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 Chandi
P.S. Case No. 52 of 2022, subject to the conditions as laid down
under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned trial
court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if
it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than two cases,
it would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his
antecedent before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.1172 of 2026(2) dt.20-01-2026
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application in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall not be confirmed but if it is found on verification that
petitioner has antecedent of only two cases in that event the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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