Patna High Court
Aashish Kumar @ NankaversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Anticipatory bail may be granted subject to conditions and verification of antecedent, as the allegations do not conclusively establish conscious possession.
Summary
The petitioner, Aashish Kumar, was implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act for alleged possession of 28.125 litres of liquor at his house and 3 litres on a motorcycle. He applied for anticipatory bail, arguing that he has a clean antecedent, that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, that the house is joint family property, and that recent amendments to the Excise Act have removed the concept of deemed possession. The State opposed the bail. The court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and conditions under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C., directing verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent before confirming the bail. If any antecedent is found, the bail may be revoked; otherwise, it will be confirmed. The order was made by Justice Satyavrat Verma.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail under Section 438 Cr.P.C. is appropriate in a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
- Whether the amendment removing deemed possession under the Excise Act affects the allegation of possession.
- Whether the petitioner’s alleged possession of liquor can be established given the facts.
Legislation cited
- Criminal Procedure Code — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Excise Act
- Section 30
- possession
- joint family property
- criminal antecedent
- Section 438
- bail bond
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.45335 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-85 Year-2026 Thana- PARANDABAR District- Nawada
======================================================
Aashish Kumar @ Nanka S/O Mohan Prasad @ Faggu R/O Village- Barki
Banjhouriya, P.S-Parnadabar, District- Nawada.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Deepak Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Vinod Shanker Modi
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 08-07-2026 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 28.125 litres of liquor is alleged to have been
recovered from the house of the petitioner and 03 litres of liquor
is alleged to have been recovered from a motorcycle.
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 the house in
question is a joint family property and thus, it cannot be alleged
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.45335 of 2026(2) dt.08-07-2026
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with certainty that it was the petitioner, 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, 2018, the
concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been
done away with and is not the owner of the seized motorcycle
and he came to be implicated at the instance of Chaukidar with
whom he is on an inimical term.
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
Parnadabar P. S. Case No.85 of 2026, 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.45335 of 2026(2) dt.08-07-2026
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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/-
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