Patna High Court
Manji Kumar @ Manji SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional bail subject to verification of antecedent and other conditions.
Summary
Manji Kumar applied for anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022 for alleged recovery of 92.8 litres of liquor from two motorcycles. The petitioner argued he had no prior criminal record, was not arrested at the scene, and the case was based solely on a confessional statement of another accused made in police custody, which he claimed lacked evidentiary value. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail on a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent and a condition to deposit Rs.2,500 with the Legal Services Committee. The order stipulated that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the circumstances described
- Whether a confessional statement made by another accused in police custody can form the basis for denying anticipatory bail
- Whether the petitioner’s alleged clean antecedent is a condition for confirming anticipatory bail
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- confessional statement
- liquor seizure
- clean antecedent
- Bihar Prohibition Act
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482(2)
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.4864 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-123 Year-2025 Thana- BUXAR MUFFSIL District- Buxar
======================================================
Manji Kumar @ Manji Singh S/o- Girdhari Singh Resident of village-
Kalyanpur PO- Baikunthpur PS- Sikraul District- Buxar
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Arvind Kumar Pradhan, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Nityanand, 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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of Bihar
Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 92.8 litres of liquor from two motorcycles. It is next
submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such,
nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and is not
the owner of any of the seized vehicle and came to be
implicated based on confessional statement of Narendra Kumar
Singh in police custody, which does not have any evidentiary
value.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4864 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
2/3
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.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Court of Special
Excise Court No.-1, Buxar in connection with Buxar Muffasil
P.S. Case No.123 of 2025, 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 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4864 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
3/3
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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