Patna High Court

Jitendra KumarversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 22 January 2026
Disposal: DISPOSED
Bench: SATYAVRAT VERMA

Holding

The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent and compliance with the stipulated conditions.

Summary

The petitioner, Jitendra Kumar, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act concerning the alleged recovery of 6.3 litres of liquor from his motorcycle. He argued that he had a clean criminal record, was not in possession of the liquor at the time of seizure, and was unaware that another person misused his vehicle. The State opposed his request for anticipatory bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties and conditioned the order on verification of the petitioner’s antecedent. If any prior case is discovered, the bail will not be confirmed; if the petitioner is found to have a clean record, the bail will be confirmed forthwith.

Issues considered

Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the circumstances.
Whether ownership of the vehicle implicates the petitioner in the alleged offence.
Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent affects the grant of anticipatory bail.

Legislation cited

BNSS — s. 482(2)

Subjects

anticipatory bail
Bihar Excise Act
Section 30(a)
Section 482(2)
vehicle ownership
clean antecedent
seizure of liquor

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.1744 of 2026
                      Arising Out of PS. Case No.-386 Year-2025 Thana- MALSALAMI District- Patna
                 ======================================================
                 Jitendra Kumar S/O Ram Swarup Rai R/O Village- Mohanpur, P.S.-
                 Raghopur, Distt.- Vaishali

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

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :       Mr.Jay Ram Prasad
                 For the Opposite Party/s :       Mr.Abhay Kumar
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   22-01-2026               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 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 6.3 litres of liquor from a motorcycle.

                             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 he came to be

                   implicated based on the fact that he is owner of the seized

                   vehicle. It is next submitted that no prudent person would use

                   his own vehicle for committing an occurrence and thus would
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.1744 of 2026(2) dt.22-01-2026
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          create evidence against himself and hence would get implicated,

          it is further submitted that petitioner was completely unaware

          that Deepak would misuse the vehicle in the manner as alleged,

          who was also apprehended from the spot along with Jyotish.

                   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

          Malsalami P.S. Case No. 386 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

          confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner is a
              Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.1744 of 2026(2) dt.22-01-2026
                                                          3/3




                        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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