Patna High Court
Harendra Gond @ Harendra Kumar GondversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail was granted subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent, with confirmation contingent on a clean record.
Summary
Harendra Gond sought anticipatory bail after learning that he may be arrested in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 19.23 litres of liquor from the Ganga river and seizure of a motorcycle. He argued that he had no conscious possession, was not the owner of the motorcycle, and the alleged recovery occurred in a public place, with the case based solely on a confessional statement made by another person in police custody, which he claimed lacked evidentiary value. He also contended that the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act had abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The State opposed the bail. The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail, requiring a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties, subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent; if any antecedent is found, the bail will not be confirmed, otherwise it will be confirmed immediately.
Issues considered
- What is the appropriateness of granting anticipatory bail under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act given the facts and the 2018 amendment removing deemed possession?
- Whether a confessional statement made in police custody can form the sole basis for arrest in the present case.
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- deemed possession
- confessional statement
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.25709 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-17 Year-2026 Thana- NANIJOR District- Buxar
======================================================
Harendra Gond @ Harendra Kumar Gond S/o Ashok Gond Resident of
Village- Ojhwarliya, P.S.- Karnamepur, District- Bhojpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Ashwini Kumar Rai
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Mritunjay Kumar Nirala
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 22-04-2026 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 the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 19.23 litres of liquor from bank of Ganga river and
a motorcycle was seized.
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 is not the owner of
the seized motorcycle and even the alleged recovery is from a
place which does not belong to the petitioner and is accessible
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to public at large and he came to be implicated based on
confessional statement of Abhishek in police custody which
does not have any evidentiary value. It is next submitted that
after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept
of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done
away with.
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 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 Nainijor P.S. Case No. 17 of 2026, 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
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confirmed, but after verification if 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)
Sumit/-
U T
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