Patna High Court
Ankit Kumar SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond, sureties, and verification of antecedents under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Summary
The petitioner, Ankit Kumar Singh, sought anticipatory bail in a case under Sections 30(a) and 32(3) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018, alleging that he was implicated solely on a confessional statement of another person and that no liquor was recovered from his possession. He has three prior criminal cases, two of which relate to the Excise Act. The State opposed the bail, arguing the seriousness of the offences. The High Court, after hearing counsel, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.15,000, two sureties of equal amount, and verification of the petitioner’s antecedents. The order further stipulated that if more than three prior cases are found, the bail would be revoked; otherwise it would be confirmed. The petitioner also agreed to deposit Rs.5,000 with the Lawyers’ Association within two weeks.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner despite his criminal antecedents and the reliance on a confessional statement as the primary evidence.
- Whether the court may impose conditions under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. pending verification of the petitioner’s antecedent record.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- confessional statement
- criminal antecedent
- Section 482
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.5397 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-153 Year-2025 Thana- Raghunathpur Excise District- Siwan
======================================================
Ankit Kumar Singh S/O Anirudh Singh Resident of Village- Chakari, P.S.-
Andar, Dist.- Siwan.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ajay Kumar Pandey, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms. Sangeeta Sharma, 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) and 32(3) of
Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner has antecedents of three cases out of which two cases
are under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 126
litres of liquor from two different 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 vehicles and he came to be
implicated based on confessional statement of Rupesh Kumar
Singh in police custody, which does not have any evidentiary
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.5397 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
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value. 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.
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.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) with two sureties
of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive
Special Judge Excise-II, Siwan in connection with
Raghunathpur Excise P.S. Case No.153 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 antecedents of more than three cases,
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.5397 of 2026(2) dt.02-02-2026
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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 has antecedents of only three cases, 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.5,000/- with Lawyers’ Association
within a period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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