Patna High Court
Manohar Choudhary @ Manohar Kumar ChoudharyversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court held that, in the absence of admissible evidence and given the petitioner’s clean antecedent, anticipatory bail under Section 438 CrPC may be granted conditionally.
Summary
Manohar Choudhary applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act, alleging recovery of 28.200 litres of liquor from his joint family house. The petitioner argued that he has a clean antecedent, was not arrested on the spot, and that the liquor was not in his conscious possession; moreover, the alleged evidence was a confessional statement of his brother‑in‑law made in police custody, which he claimed lacked evidentiary value, especially after the 2018 amendment that abolished the concept of deemed possession. The State opposed the bail. The Court, considering these submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds and sureties, subject to verification of his criminal antecedent and compliance with Section 438(2) CrPC conditions. The order was made conditional: if any antecedent is discovered, the bail will not be confirmed; otherwise, it will be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 CrPC for an offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
- Whether the confessional statement of the brother‑in‑law made in police custody is admissible as evidence for granting bail.
- Whether the concept of deemed possession applies after the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438 CrPC
- Excise Act
- deemed possession
- confessional statement
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.17883 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-20 Year-2026 Thana- Benta District- Darbhanga
======================================================
Manohar Choudhary @ Manohar Kumar Choudhary S/O Late Anant
Choudhary Village - Gangasagar Donar, P.S.- Benta, District- Darbhanga,
State- Bihar, Pin Code-846004.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr/s.Kanchan Jha
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Md. Anzarul Haque Sahara
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-03-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned APP for the State.
2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his
arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under
Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is
of recovery of 28.200 litres of liquor from the house of the
petitioner.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and even the house in
question is a joint family property and thus, it cannot be alleged
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with certainty that it was the petitioner, who had kept the liquor
in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within his
knowledge and after Amendment in the Excise Act, 2018, the
concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been
done away with and he came to be implicated based on
confessional statement of his brother in-law Ashok in police
custody, which does not have any evidentiary value.
5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
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 Court below
within a period of six weeks, is directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on his furnishing bail-bonds in the
sum 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
Benta P. S. Case No.20 of 2026, subject to the conditions laid
down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. The application stands allowed.
8. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.17883 of 2026(2) dt.19-03-2026
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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 obtaining
anticipatory bail had concealed his 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
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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