Patna High Court
Ramadhar Sahani @ Nagendra SahaniversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional anticipatory bail subject to bond, sureties and verification of antecedents.
Summary
Ramadhar Sahani applied for anticipatory bail fearing arrest under Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act for alleged recovery of liquor. He argued that the liquor was seized from a location not belonging to him, that he had no conscious possession, and that the case was initiated mechanically on the basis of a chowkidar’s information without proper investigation. The State opposed the bail. The Patna High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.5,000 with two sureties and compliance with Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S., directing the trial court to verify his criminal antecedents before confirming the bail. The court further ordered the petitioner to deposit Rs.2,500 with the High Court Legal Services Committee within two weeks. The order is subject to revocation if the petitioner is found to have more than one prior case.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act.
- Whether the petitioner’s lack of possession and the manner of investigation justify bail.
- Whether Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. can be invoked to impose conditions on anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- bail conditions
- criminal antecedent
- Section 482
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.4858 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-36 Year-2024 Thana- Bhopatpur District- East Champaran
======================================================
Ramadhar Sahani @ Nagendra Sahani S/o Jangbahadur Sahani Resident of
village - Chaube Tola Gaw, P.S.- Bhopatpur, Distt.- East Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Raj Kishor Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 02-02-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case registered
for the offences punishable under Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1)
of Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) 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 16.8 litres of liquor from a bag. It is
next submitted that petitioner was not arrested 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 and he came to be implicated at the instance of
Chowkidar but then it is submitted that once an accused is
implicated in a case relating to excise, the police starts
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4858 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
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implicating mechanically either at the instance of Chowkidar,
local person, confessional statement or secret information
without holding a proper investigation.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. 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-bond in the
sum of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) with two sureties of
the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Special
Judge, Excise Court No.1, East Champaran, Motihari in
connection with Bhopatpur P.S. Case No.36 of 2024, subject to
the conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond of the petitioner shall verify
the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one case, then
it would be presumed that petitioner for the purposes of
obtaining anticipatory bail had concealed his antecedent before
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4858 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
3/3
this Court, in that event, the present provisional anticipatory bail
order shall not be confirmed, but if on verification, it is found
that petitioner has antecedent of only one case, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
8. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner,
based on instruction, submits that petitioner undertakes to
deposit an amount of Rs.2500/- with High Court Legal Services
Committee, Patna within a period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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