Patna High Court
Upendra SahniversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Anticipatory bail may be granted where the petitioner is not in custody, no possession is established, and the allegations rest on unverified information, subject to verification of antecedents.
Summary
The petitioner, Upendra Sahni, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. in connection with an offence alleged under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act, involving the recovery of 20 litres of liquor and 2400 kg of semi‑prepared jawa mahua that were destroyed at a river bank. He contended that he has a clean antecedent, was not arrested at the spot, no liquor was found in his possession, and the alleged incident occurred in a public place with the informant’s identity omitted from the FIR. The State opposed the grant of anticipatory bail. The Court, after considering the submissions, noted the lack of arrest, absence of possession, and the questionable basis of the accusation, and therefore directed the petitioner’s release on provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 and two sureties, pending verification of his antecedents. The Court further stipulated that if any prior case is discovered, the provisional bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The application for anticipatory bail was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail under Section 438 Cr.P.C. should be granted in the present facts
- Whether the absence of arrest, possession and the public nature of the alleged incident justify anticipatory bail
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438
- Excise Act
- clean antecedent
- possession
- public place
- bail bond
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.27684 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-454 Year-2019 Thana- GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL COMP.
District- East Champaran
======================================================
Upendra Sahni S/o- Late Kailash Sahni Village- Gorigawa PS- Sugauli
District- East Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Vishal Prasad
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Rana Randhir Singh
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 24-04-2026 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 20 litres of liquor along with 2400 kg. of semi
prepared jawa mahua which was destroyed at the spot at the
bank of a river.
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 even alleged
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.27684 of 2026(2) dt.24-04-2026
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recovery is from a place, which does not belong to the petitioner
and is accessible to public at large and he came to be implicated
at the instance of local person, but the name of the person, who
disclosed the name of the petitioner is not disclosed in the F.I.R.,
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. 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
Excise P. S. Case No.454 of 2019, 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.27684 of 2026(2) dt.24-04-2026
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found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, then it
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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