Patna High Court
Gautam Kumar @ Tipinala @ Gautam Kr.versusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court held that anticipatory bail may be granted conditionally where the alleged offence is non‑violent and the petitioner’s antecedent is limited to three cases, subject to verification.
Summary
The petitioner, Gautam Kumar, sought anticipatory bail after learning of a pending case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act alleging recovery of 11 litres of liquor from a bush not belonging to him. He argued that the FIR lacked the informant’s name and that no liquor was found in his possession, contending that the investigation was mechanically initiated. The State opposed the bail. The court considered the non‑violent nature of the alleged excise offence, the petitioner’s limited criminal antecedent (three cases), and the procedural deficiencies in the FIR. It granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.15,000 with two sureties and a requirement to deposit Rs.2,500 with the Lawyers’ Association. The order further stipulated that the bail would be confirmed only after verification that the petitioner’s antecedent does not exceed three cases.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act where the alleged recovery was not from the accused’s possession.
- Whether the petitioner’s prior criminal antecedent of three cases precludes the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Negotiable Securities Act (BNSS) — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise offence
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- criminal antecedent
- FIR deficiencies
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.4619 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-89 Year-2025 Thana- BHADAUR District- Patna
======================================================
Gautam Kumar @ Tipinala @ Gautam Kr. Son of Bablu Singh @ Bablu
Kumar Resident of Village- Kirti Chak, Darwe Bhadaur, P.S.- Bhadaur,
District- Patna
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Aryan Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Madan Kumar, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 31-01-2026 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 offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner has antecedent of three cases out of which two cases
are under the excise act and allegation is of recovery of 11 liters
of liquor from a bush.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not apprehended from the spot as such nothing
was recovered from his conscious possession and even alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4619 of 2026(2) dt.31-01-2026
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and is accessible to villagers at large and he came to be
implicated at the instance of local person, but then the name of
the person who disclosed the name of the petitioner is not
disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution. It is also submitted that once an accused is
implicated in a case relating to excise, the police starts
implicating mechanically either at the instance of Chowkidar,
local person, confessional statement or secret information
without holding a proper investigation.
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 for the petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the
event of his arrest or surrender before the learned Trial Court
within a period of six weeks from today, be released on
Provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.
15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen 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 Bhadaur
P.S. Case No. 89 of 2025 subject to the conditions as laid down
under Section 482 (2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial
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Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and
in the event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more
than three cases then it would be presumed that petitioner, for
the purposes of seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his
antecedent before this Court, as such, the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed, but after
verification if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of three
cases only, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall be confirmed forthwith.
8. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner,
based on instruction, undertakes to deposit an amount of Rs.
2500/- with Lawyers’ Association, Patna High Court within a
period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Rishabh/-
U T
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