Patna High Court
Sipi Turha @ Sippi Turha @ Satyendra PrasadversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court ordered provisional anticipatory bail for the petitioner, subject to verification of his criminal antecedents.
Summary
The petitioner, Sipi Turha, was apprehended for alleged possession of 97.29 litres of liquor recovered from his joint‑family house, alleged to violate Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, the liquor was not seized from his personal possession, and the amendment removed the doctrine of deemed possession, making the charge untenable. The State opposed his request for anticipatory bail. The Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and directed the trial court to verify the petitioner’s antecedents. If any prior criminal record is found, the bail will not be confirmed; if none is found, the bail will be confirmed. The order reflects the Court’s discretion to balance the presumption of innocence with the seriousness of the alleged offence.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case of alleged possession of liquor under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 after the removal of the deemed‑possession concept.
- Whether the fact that the liquor was recovered from a joint‑family house and not from the petitioner’s personal possession affects the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- possession of liquor
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482(2)
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.129 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-426 Year-2025 Thana- BIHIA District- Bhojpur
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Sipi Turha @ Sippi Turha @ Satyendra Prasad S/O Vithal Turha @
Satyanarain Prasad R/O Village- Raza Bazar Ward No. 08 Bihiya, P.S- Bihiya,
Distt.- Bhojpur.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Amarendra Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Rajesh Kumar
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 13-01-2026 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 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 97.290 litres of liquor from the house of the
petitioner. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested
from the spot as such nothing was recovered from his conscious
possession and the house in question is a joint family property
as such it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner,
who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.129 of 2026(2) dt.13-01-2026
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house was within his knowledge and after amendment in the
Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession
and presumed offender has been done away with and he came to
be implicated at the instance of local person but then the name
of person who disclosed the name of the petitioner is not
disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution.
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 before the learned Court below
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 Bihiyan
P.S. Case No.426/2025, 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
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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
antecedent, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
amit/-
U T
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