Patna High Court

Sujit Prasad @ Sujit KumarversusThe State of Bihar

Decided: 7 May 2026
Disposal: DISPOSED
Bench: SATYAVRAT VERMA

Holding

The Court conditionally granted provisional anticipatory bail, subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent and compliance with bail conditions.

Summary

The petitioner, Sujit Prasad, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for alleged recovery of 10 litres of liquor from a bag near a river, which was not in his conscious possession. He has a prior case under the Excise Act. He applied for anticipatory bail, arguing that the police relied on secret information without proper investigation. The State opposed the bail. The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail, subject to a Rs.5,000 bond, two sureties, and verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent, with the bail to be confirmed only if he has no more than one prior case.

Issues considered

Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act where the alleged contraband was not in the accused's possession.
Whether the petitioner’s prior criminal antecedent affects the confirmation of anticipatory bail.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)

Subjects

anticipatory bail
Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
Section 30
criminal antecedent
excise offence
bail conditions

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.30941 of 2026
                        Arising Out of PS. Case No.-25 Year-2021 Thana- CIVIL LINE District- Gaya
                 ======================================================
                 Sujit Prasad @ Sujit Kumar S/o Brij Kishore Singh R/o Village - Bala Par
                 Bhusunda, PS - Muffasil, Dist. - Gaya.
                                                                          ... ... Petitioner/s
                                                    Versus
                 The State of Bihar
                                                                   ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :        Mr. Sudhir Kumar Sinha, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :        Mr. Shyam Bihari Singh, A.P.P.
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   07-05-2026                  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 Section 30(a) of the

                   Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.

                                3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that

                   petitioner has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and

                   allegation is of recovery of 10 litres of liquor from a bag found

                   near the river.

                                4. 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 the alleged

                   recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner

                   but then is accessible to villagers at large and he came to be

                   implicated based on the secret information which is the easiest
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.30941 of 2026(2) dt.07-05-2026
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          way to implicate someone. It is further submitted that once an

          accused is implicated in a case relating to excise the police start

          implicating mechanically either at the instance of the

          Chawkidar, local person, confessional statement or secret

          information without holding a proper investigation of the case.

                       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 appearing on behalf of the petitioner, let 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.5,000/- (Rupees

          Five Thousand) 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 Civil Lines P.S.

          Case No. 25 of 2021, subject to the conditions as laid down

          under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the B.N.S.S.

                       7. However, it is made clear that thereafter the learned

          Trial Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner

          and if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one

          case, it would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his

          antecedent before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail
           Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.30941 of 2026(2) dt.07-05-2026
                                                       3/3




                     application in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order

                     shall not be confirmed but if it is found on verification that

                     petitioner has antecedent of only one case in that event the

                     provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.


                                                                          (Satyavrat Verma, J)

Kundan/-

U     T

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