Patna High Court

Mohan SahversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 10 March 2026
Disposal: DISPOSED
Bench: SATYAVRAT VERMA

Holding

The Court ordered provisional anticipatory bail with conditions, subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent.

Summary

Mohan Sah, a resident of Mira Chowk, sought anticipatory bail after learning that he might be arrested in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for allegedly recovering 22.320 litres of liquor from a sack near the Asni river. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, the liquor was not in his conscious possession, and the location is a public area, making the allegation baseless. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties, and directed the trial court to verify his criminal antecedent. If any antecedent is found, the bail may be revoked; if none, the provisional bail will be confirmed.

Issues considered

Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act given the circumstances of alleged recovery and his clean antecedent.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)

Subjects

anticipatory bail
excise law
liquor seizure
Section 30
clean antecedent
bail bond
public place

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.12852 of 2026
                    Arising Out of PS. Case No.-212 Year-2025 Thana- EXCISE JAGDISHPUR District-
                                                         Bhojpur
                 ======================================================
                 Mohan Sah S/O Ganesh Sah Resident of village- Mira Chowk, PS- Nagar,
                 Dist- Bhojpur Ara

                                                                                ... ... Petitioner/s
                                                      Versus
                 The State of Bihar

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :      Mr.Rohit Kumar Sharma
                 For the Opposite Party/s :      Mr.Umeshanand Pandit
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   10-03-2026               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 offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the

                   Bihar Excise Act.

                             3.    Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the

                   petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of

                   recovery of 22.320 litres of liquor from a sack near bank of Asni

                   river.

                             4.    Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the

                   petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was

                   recovered from his conscious possession and even the alleged

                   recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.12852 of 2026(2) dt.10-03-2026
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          and is accessible to public at large. It is further submitted that he

          came to be implicated based on secret information which is the

          easiest way to implicate someone without holding a proper

          investigation when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean

          antecedent.

                   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, 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 Excise Jagdishpur P.S. Case No. 212 of 2025

          subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 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 in the

          event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case

          then it would be presumed that petitioner, for the purposes of

          seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his antecedent before this

          Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
              Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.12852 of 2026(2) dt.10-03-2026
                                                          3/3




                        confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner is a

                        person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional

                        anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.



                                                  (Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sumit/-

U         T

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