Patna High Court

Dev Kumar Paswan @ Dev KumarversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 17 April 2026
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, Dev Kumar Paswan, sought anticipatory bail after learning that he might be arrested in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act concerning the alleged recovery of 133.5 litres of liquor from the house of Harihar Paswan. He argued that he had no possession of the liquor, no relationship with the alleged owner, and that the FIR was based on undisclosed secret information. The State opposed the bail. The Court, after hearing both sides, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties and directed verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent. It further held that if any antecedent is found, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith.

Issues considered

Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act
Whether the lack of possession and clean antecedent justify granting anticipatory bail

Legislation cited

Bihar Negotiable Securities Act (BNSS) — s. 482(2)

Subjects

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

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.20623 of 2026
                      Arising Out of PS. Case No.-185 Year-2025 Thana- Panapur District- Muzaffarpur
                 ======================================================
                 Dev Kumar Paswan @ Dev Kumar S/o Jagdish Paswan @ Patthal Paswan
                 Resident of village - Raksa Bajar, P.s.- Panapur Kariyat, Distt.- Muzaffarpur

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

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :        Mr. Sagar Kumar, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :        Mr. Anand Kishore Choudhary, APP
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   17-04-2026                  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

                   petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of

                   recovery of 133.5 liters of liquor from house of Harihar Paswan.

                                4. Learned      counsel for the petitioner submits that

                   petitioner was not apprehended from the spot as such nothing

                   was recovered from his conscious possession and even alleged

                   recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner

                   and he has no concern or relation with Harihar Paswan and he

                   came to be implicated at the instance of local person, but then
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20623 of 2026(2) dt.17-04-2026
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          the name of the person who disclosed the name of the petitioner

          is not disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case

          of the prosecution, when petitioner has not been implicated

          based on secret information.

                       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 Panapur

          Kariyat P.S. Case No. 185 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.20623 of 2026(2) dt.17-04-2026
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                      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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