Patna High Court
Ritesh KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court held that, given the petitioner’s clean antecedent and lack of possession, provisional anticipatory bail may be granted subject to the conditions of Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
Summary
The petitioner, Ritesh Kumar, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case registered under Section 30(A) of the Excise Act for alleged recovery of 5.345 litres of liquor from his grocery shop. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, was not arrested at the scene, and that the liquor could have been concealed by a customer, not him. The State opposed the bail, contending the seriousness of the offence. The Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to the conditions of Section 438(2) and verification of his antecedent by the trial court. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case under Section 30(A) of the Excise Act.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean criminal antecedent and lack of possession justify granting anticipatory bail.
- Whether the conditions prescribed under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. are satisfied.
Legislation cited
- Criminal Procedure Code — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(A)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438 CrPC
- Excise Act
- liquor offence
- bail conditions
- clean antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.32127 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-57 Year-2026 Thana- NAANPUR District- Sitamarhi
======================================================
Ritesh Kumar Son of Late Satya Narayan Ray Resident of Village- Gaura,
Ward No. 7, P.S.- Nanpur, District- Sitamarhi
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Ayush Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Sunil Kumar Pandey
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 13-05-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
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.
The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 5.345 litres of liquor from grocery shop of the
petitioner.
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 no It is next
submitted that no prudent person would use his own business
premises for committing a crime and thus, would create
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.32127 of 2026(2) dt.13-05-2026
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evidence against himself and hence, would get implicated and at
the same time shall bring disrepute to his business. It is further
submitted that shop is a place where customers in large numbers
come and it might be a possibility that some customer without
knowledge of the petitioner concealed meager amount of liquor
and he came to be implicated at the instance of Chaukidar with
whom he is on an inimical term.
Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
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
Nanpur P. S. Case No.57 of 2026, subject to the conditions laid
down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
The application stands allowed.
It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.32127 of 2026(2) dt.13-05-2026
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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 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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