Patna High Court
Saroj KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioners subject to bail bond, surety conditions, and verification of criminal antecedents, with confirmation contingent on the antecedent check.
Summary
The petitioners, three residents of Asni village, sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for alleged recovery of 60 litres of liquor from a public paddy field. They argued that no liquor was found in their possession, the alleged site does not belong to them, and the FIR lacks disclosure of the informant, casting doubt on the prosecution's case. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on each petitioner furnishing a bail bond of Rs.10,000 with two sureties and subject to verification of their criminal antecedents. The Court stipulated that if petitioners 1 and 3 are found to have any prior case, or petitioner 2 has more than two prior cases, the bail would not be confirmed for the offending individual. If the antecedent check confirms the petitioners' claims, the provisional bail will be confirmed. The order was made under Section 482(2) of the CrPC.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the accused under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
- Whether the absence of recovered liquor in the accused's possession and the public nature of the alleged site justify bail.
- Whether the condition of verifying criminal antecedents before confirming bail is appropriate.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Excise Act — s. 30(a)
- Criminal Procedure Code — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- Section 30
- bail conditions
- criminal antecedent
- public place
- recovery of liquor
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.19344 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-609 Year-2025 Thana- UDWANTNAGAR District- Bhojpur
======================================================
1. Saroj Kumar S/o Late Akshay Yadav R/o Village - Asni, P.S - Udwantnagar,
District - Bhojpur
2. Tuntun Kumar S/o Late Hans Lal Yadav R/o Village - Asni, P.S -
Udwantnagar, District - Bhojpur
3. Pramod Yadav @ Saroj Kumar S/o Sri Baghwan Singh R/o Village - Asni,
P.S - Udwantnagar, District - Bhojpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Akash Kumar Mishra, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Braj Kishore Pd., APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 26-03-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and
learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case
registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioner nos. 1 and 3 are persons with clean antecedent and
petitioner no. 2 has antecedent of two cases under the Excise
Act and allegation is of recovery of 60 liters of liquor from a
paddy field near Banas river.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.19344 of 2026(2) dt.26-03-2026
2/3
petitioners were not apprehended from the spot as such nothing
was recovered from their conscious possession and even alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the
petitioners and is accessible to public at large and they came to
be implicated at the instance of local person, but then the name
of the person who disclosed the name of the petitioners is not
disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution, when petitioners have not been implicated based on
secret information. It is also submitted that once an accused is
implicated in a case relating to excise, the police starts
implicating mechanically either at the instance of Chowkidar,
local person, confessional statement or secret information
without holding a proper investigation.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioners.
6. 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 Trial Court
within a period of six weeks from today, be released on
Provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.
10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) each with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.19344 of 2026(2) dt.26-03-2026
3/3
where the case is pending/successor court in connection with
Udwantnagar P.S. Case No. 609 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 petitioners and
in the event if it is found that petitioner nos. 1 and 3 have
antecedent of even one case and petitioner no. 2 has antecedent
of more than two cases then it would be presumed that
petitioners, for the purposes of seeking anticipatory bail, had
concealed their antecedent before this Court, as such, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed with
respect to the petitioner who had concealed his antecedent, but
after verification if it is found that petitioner nos. 1 and 3 are
persons with clean antecedent and petitioner no. 2 has
antecedent of two cases only, in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Rishabh/-
U T
Checking your session…
Lawyer court records for this case
Associated through the court’s case reference.