Patna High Court
Deepak Kumar @ Dipak KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court held that anticipatory bail is appropriate where the petitioner has a clean antecedent and no conscious possession of the seized liquor, despite ownership of the vehicle, subject to verification of antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Deepak Kumar, sought anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 351.78 litres of liquor from his Nissan vehicle. He argued that he had a clean antecedent, was not in conscious possession of the liquor, and was unaware that the vehicle would be misused. The State opposed the bail. The court considered that ownership of the vehicle alone does not establish culpability and that the petitioner’s lack of prior criminal record warranted bail, subject to verification of his antecedent. Accordingly, the court granted provisional anticipatory bail on the condition of furnishing bail bonds and compliance with Section 438(2) Cr.P.C. The trial court was directed to verify his antecedent before confirming the bail.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 Cr.P.C. in a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act
- Whether ownership of a vehicle used in the alleged offence precludes the grant of anticipatory bail
- Whether the absence of conscious possession and a clean antecedent justify anticipatory bail
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Excise Act
- Section 30
- Criminal Procedure Code
- vehicle ownership
- clean antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.22468 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-226 Year-2025 Thana- GOPALPUR District- Gopalganj
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Deepak Kumar @ Dipak Kumar Son of Chhavi Lal Resident of - House No.
40, Street No. 38, Lord Krishna Convent School, Surat Nagar, Phase - 2, P.S.
Dhanwanpur 51, District -Gurgaon, Haryana
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Bijay Prakash Singh
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms.Indu Kumari Srivastava
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 08-04-2026 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 351.780 litres of liquor from a Nissan car.
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 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.22468 of 2026(2) dt.08-04-2026
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his own vehicle for committing a crime and thus, would create
evidence against himself and hence, would get implicated. It is
further submitted that petitioner was completely unaware that
Amit would misuse the vehicle in the manner as alleged as he
was also apprehended at the spot along with Chetrabh.
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
Gopalpur P. S. Case No.226 of 2025, 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
the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, then it
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.22468 of 2026(2) dt.08-04-2026
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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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