Patna High Court
Dinesh Chaudhry @ Dinesh ChaudharyversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to bond and verification conditions.
Summary
The petitioner, Dinesh Chaudhry, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act, alleging recovery of 14 litres of liquor, four of which were said to be from his joint‑family house. He contended that he has a clean antecedent, that no liquor was found in his immediate possession, and that the allegation stemmed from an inimical chaukidar, questioning the relevance of any deemed‑possession concept after the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500 each with two sureties, subject to verification of his antecedent and other conditions under Section 438(2) CrPC. The order also required the petitioner to deposit Rs.1,500 with the Advocates’ Association within two weeks. The application for anticipatory bail was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 438 CrPC in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act, given the alleged facts and his claim of clean antecedent.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438 CrPC
- Excise Act
- deemed possession
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- joint family property
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.5442 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-115 Year-2025 Thana- SAKURABAD District- Jehanabad
======================================================
Dinesh Chaudhry @ Dinesh Chaudhary Son of Ravindra Chaudhary @
Ravindra Chaudhari Resident of Village - Fauladpur, Police Station -
Shakurabad, District - Jehanabad (Bihar)
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Ms.Sonam Kumari
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Yogendra Kumar
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 30-01-2026 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 14 litres of liquor out of which 04 litres of liquor
from the house of the petitioner.
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.5442 of 2026(2) dt.30-01-2026
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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 he came to be implicated at the instance of
Chaukidar with whom he is on an inimical term. It is further
submitted that if Chaukidar was aware of the involvement of the
petitioners in the occurrence, then why he did not inform the
police prior to institution of the present F.I.R., which casts an
aspersion on the case of the prosecution.
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
Shakurbad P. S. Case No.115 of 2025, subject to the conditions
laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.5442 of 2026(2) dt.30-01-2026
3/3
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
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.
9. At this stage, the learned counsel appearing on
behalf of the petitioner based on instruction submits that
petitioner undertakes to deposit an amount of Rs.1500/- with
Advocates’ Association, Patna High Court, Patna within a
period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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