Patna High Court
Dineshwar Paswan @ Vineshwar Paswan @ Vindeshwar PaswanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional anticipatory bail subject to conditions and verification of antecedent.
Summary
The petitioners, Dineshwar Paswan and his son Sonu Paswan, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022, where 40 litres of liquor was allegedly recovered from a motorcycle and their house. They argued they have clean antecedents, were not the owners of the motorcycle, and the house is joint family property, so possession could not be conclusively attributed to them. They also contended that the confessional statement of Chandan Kumar made in police custody lacks evidentiary value and that the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The court, after considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to the filing of bail bonds and verification of the petitioners’ criminal antecedent. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed, but if they are found clean, the provisional bail would be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioners under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022.
- Whether the confessional statement made in police custody is admissible as evidence.
- Whether the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender applies post the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- deemed possession
- confessional statement
- clean antecedent
- joint family property
- Section 482(2)
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.14878 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-811 Year-2025 Thana- MANER District- Patna
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1. Dineshwar Paswan @ Vineshwar Paswan @ Vindeshwar Paswan S/o Late
Ram Prasad Paswna R/o Village - Bhawani Tola, P.O - Rampur, P.S - Maner,
District - Patna and also resides ar Rampur Diyara, P.S - Maner, District -
Patna
2. Sonu Paswan S/o Dineshwar Paswan @ Vineshwar Paswan @ Vindeshwar
Paswan R/o Village - Bhawani Tola, P.O - Rampur, P.S - Maner, District -
Patna and also resides ar Rampur Diyara, P.S - Maner, District - Patna
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
1. The State of Bihar
2. Jitendra Prasad, Male, Currently posted as Sub Inspector at Maner Police
Station, Maner, Patna Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Md. Helal Ahmad, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Shyam Bihari Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 13-03-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case
registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of
Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioners are persons with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 40 litres of liquor from a motorcycle and house of
the petitioners, as detailed in the FIR. It is next submitted that
petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14878 of 2026(2) dt.13-03-2026
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recovered from their conscious possession and are not the
owners of the motorcycle and the house in question is a joint
family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that
it were petitioners who had kept the liquor in the house or the
liquor kept in the house was within their knowledge and they
came to be implicated based on confessional statement of
Chandan Kumar in police custody which does not have any
evidentiary value. It is also 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. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners, above-named, in the
event of their arrest or surrender before the learned Court below
within a period of six weeks, are directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on their furnishing bail-bonds in
the sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) each with two
sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned
Special Excise Judge, Danapur in connection with Maner P.S.
Case No.811 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down under
Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14878 of 2026(2) dt.13-03-2026
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6. The application stands allowed.
7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioners shall
verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event,
if it is found that petitioners have antecedent of even one case,
then it would be presumed that petitioners for the purposes of
obtaining anticipatory bail had concealed their antecedent
before this Court, in that event, the present provisional
anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed, but if on
verification, it is found that petitioners are persons with clean
antecedent, in that event, the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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