Patna High Court
Anil ManjhiversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The High Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedent and compliance with the conditions imposed under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Summary
The petitioner, Anil Manjhi, sought anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for alleged recovery of liquor from a motorcycle he owned and from a house belonging to another person. He argued that he had a clean criminal record, that the liquor was not found in his possession, and that he was unaware of his friend’s alleged misuse of the vehicle. The State opposed the bail, contending that the allegations warranted arrest. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties and subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent. The court stipulated that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would be revoked, but if the petitioner’s clean record is confirmed, the provisional order would be made final. The order was made under the inherent powers of the High Court pursuant to Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
- Whether ownership of the vehicle used in the alleged offence is sufficient grounds to deny anticipatory bail.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent is a requisite condition for confirming anticipatory bail.
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 30(a) Bihar Excise Act
- vehicle ownership
- clean antecedent
- High Court inherent powers
- Section 482 CrPC
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.26074 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-312 Year-2025 Thana- KALYANPUR District- Samastipur
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Anil Manjhi S/o- Ghurn Manjhi R/o - Rahua East, P.S - Warisnagar, District -
Samastipur, Bihar
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Vinay Kumar Mishra
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Shahabuddin Azeem @ S. Azeem
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 24-04-2026 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 4 litres of liquor from a motorcycle and 58 litres of
liquor from the house of Dilip Paswan.
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 has no concern or
relation with Dilip and he came to be implicated based on the
fact that he is owner of the seized vehicle. It is next submitted
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that no prudent person would use his own vehicle for
committing an occurrence and thus would create evidence
against himself and hence would get implicated, it is further
submitted that petitioner was completely unaware that his friend
would misuse the vehicle in the manner as alleged, who also
fled from the spot.
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 Kalyanpur P.S. Case No. 312 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
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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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