Patna High Court
Mithilesh KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to conditions and verification of his antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Mithilesh Kumar, feared arrest in a case alleging recovery of 60 litres of liquor from a motorcycle, charged under Sections 274 and 275 of the Bihar Narcotic Substances Act read with Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act. He claimed he had no conscious possession of the liquor, was not the owner of the vehicle, and the only link to the offence was a confessional statement made by his brother while in police custody, which he argued lacked evidentiary value. The petitioner also contended that the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act had abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The State opposed the grant of anticipatory bail. The Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail on the condition of furnishing bail bonds and two sureties, subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent; if any antecedent is found, the bail will not be confirmed, otherwise it will be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail under the circumstances of alleged possession of liquor.
- Whether the confessional statement of the petitioner’s brother can be treated as substantive evidence.
- Whether the removal of the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender by the 2018 amendment affects the bail application.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Narcotic Substances Act — s. 274, 275, 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- provisional bail
- deemed possession
- presumed offender
- Bihar Narcotic Substances Act
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 274
- Section 275
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482(2)
- criminal antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.17430 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-41 Year-2026 Thana- BIDUPUR District- Vaishali
======================================================
Mithilesh Kumar S/o Bipat Ray R/o Village - Kutubpur, Near Kali Asthan, P.S
- Bidupur, District - Vaishali
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shivjee Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Parmanand Prasad, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-03-2026 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 Sections 274 and
275 of the BNS read with Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 60 liters of liquor from a motorcycle.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner was not apprehended from the spot as such nothing
was recovered from his conscious possession and is not the
owner of the seized vehicle he came to be implicated based on
confessional statement of his brother in police custody which
does not have any evidentiary value. It is further submitted that
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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 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.
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 Bidupur
P.S. Case No. 41 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 confirmed, but after
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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)
Rishabh/-
U T
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