Patna High Court
Bade Manjhi @ Badey ManjhiversusThe State Of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedents and compliance with the conditions imposed under Section 482(2) of the CrPC.
Summary
Bade Manjhi sought anticipatory bail after the police registered a case under Sections 30(a) and 30(d) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act alleging that 15 litres of liquor and 150 litres of fermented Jawa Mahua were recovered from his house, which he claims is joint family property and that no liquor was found in his personal possession. He argued that the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act abolished the doctrine of deemed possession and that the complaint was motivated by an inimical watchman. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering the petitioner’s clean antecedent and the lack of direct possession, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a modest bond, two sureties and verification of his criminal record, directing that the order be confirmed only if the trial court finds him to have no prior cases. The order is made under Section 482(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court warned that any discovery of a prior case would lead to the bail being withdrawn.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is liable to be arrested under Sections 30(a) and 30(d) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act in the absence of direct possession of liquor.
- Whether the doctrine of deemed possession, removed by the 2018 amendment, can be invoked against the petitioner.
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 482(2) of the CrPC in the present circumstances.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- deemed possession
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- joint family property
- criminal antecedent
- Section 30
- Section 482
Judgment
sIN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.26442 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-556 Year-2025 Thana- WAJIRGANJ District- Gaya
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Bade Manjhi @ Badey Manjhi S/O Late Cheta Manjhi R/O Vill.- Hasra Tola,
P.S.- Wazirganj, Dist.- Gaya.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State Of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Aryan Singh
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms. Veena Kumari Jaiswal
======================================================
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 offence punishable under Sections 30(a) and
30(D) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 15 litres of liquor from house of petitioner along
with 150 litres of fermented Jawa Mahua which was destroyed
and 150 litres of liquor was recovered from house of Bangali
Manjhi. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested
from the spot as such nothing was recovered from his conscious
possession and the house in question is a joint family property
as such it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner,
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who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the
house was within his knowledge and after amendment in the
Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession
and presumed offender has been done away with and he came to
be implicated at the instance of chowkidar with whom he is on
an inimical term. It is also submitted that if chowkidar was
aware of the involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence
then why he did not inform the police prior to institution of the
instant FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution.
4. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
5. 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 Wazirganj P.S. Case No.556/2025, subject to
the conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the
B.N.S.S.
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6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter
shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one
case, in that event, it would be presumed that petitioner had
concealed his antecedent before this court, as such, the
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)
amit/-
U T
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