Patna High Court

Ram Kumar SinghversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 17 March 2026
Disposal: DISPOSED
Bench: SATYAVRAT VERMA

Holding

The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to bond, sureties, and verification of the petitioner’s antecedent.

Summary

Ram Kumar Singh sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for alleged recovery of 159.48 litres of liquor from a banana orchard adjacent to his house. The allegation was based solely on a confessional statement made by Ganesh while in police custody, which the petitioner argued lacked evidentiary value. The petitioner asserted he had a clean criminal record and that no liquor was found in his possession at the time of arrest. The State opposed the bail, contending the seriousness of the offence. The High Court, applying Section 482(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a modest bond, two sureties, and a six‑week period for the trial court to verify the petitioner’s antecedent, after which the bail would be confirmed if no prior cases are found.

Issues considered

Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act where the only evidence is a confessional statement made in police custody.
Whether the amendment to the Bihar Excise Act in 2018, which removed the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender, affects the bail application.

Legislation cited

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

Subjects

anticipatory bail
excise law
Section 30
Section 482
confessional statement
clean antecedent
Bihar Excise Act

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.14977 of 2026
                   Arising Out of PS. Case No.-5 Year-2026 Thana- EXCISE ROSERA District- Samastipur
                 ======================================================
                 Ram Kumar Singh Son of Ganesh Mandal Ward no. 07, Akhatwara, Bhataura,
                 P.S. - Shivajinagar, Dist. - Samastipur, Bihar.

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

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :       Mr.Keshav Bhardwaj
                 For the Opposite Party/s :       Mr.Bharat Lal
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   17-03-2026               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 159.48 litres of liquor from a banana orchard near

                   the house of the petitioner.

                             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

                   but then is adjacent to his house and he came to be implicated
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.14977 of 2026(2) dt.17-03-2026
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          based on confessional statement of Ganesh in police custody

          which does not have any evidentiary value. It is next 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.

                   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 Rosera Excise P.S. Case No. 5 of 2026 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.14977 of 2026(2) dt.17-03-2026
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                        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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