Sanjay ChaudharyversusThe State of Bihar

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.5559 of 2026
                       Arising Out of PS. Case No.-493 Year-2025 Thana- GRIYAK District- Nalanda
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                 Sanjay Chaudhary S/o- Late Mishri Chaudhary R/o - Kayampur, P.S -
                 Giriyak, District - Nalanda
                                                                      ... ... Petitioner/s
                                               Versus
                 The State of Bihar
                                                               ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :       Mr. Pankaj Kumar, Advocate
                 For the Opposite Party/s :       Mr. Rabindra Kumar, A.P.P.
                 ======================================================
                 CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
                                       ORAL ORDER

2   03-02-2026                  1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.

                   Rabindra Kumar, learned A.P.P. for the State.

                                2. The petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case

                   registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the

                   Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.

                                3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that

                   petitioner has antecedent of three cases under the Excise Act and

                   allegation is of recovery of 150 litres of liquor from the house of

                   the petitioner and Sudhir Chaudhary, 20 litres of liquor from the

                   house of Kalendra Chaudhary and 30 litres of liquor from the

                   house of Bijendra Chaudhary.

                                4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that

                   petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was

                   recovered from his conscious possession. It is further submitted

                   that the house in question is a joint family property, as such, it
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          cannot be alleged 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 in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and

          presumed offender has been done away with. It is further

          submitted that petitioner came to be implicated based on the

          secret information which is the easiest way to implicate

          someone. It is next submitted that once an accused is implicated

          in a case relating to excise the police start implicating

          mechanically either at the instance of the Chawkidar, local

          person, confessional statement or secret information without

          holding a proper investigation of the case.

                       5. Mr. Rabindra Kumar, 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, let 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
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                     Giriyak P.S. Case No. 493 of 2025, subject to the conditions as

                     laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the

                     BNSS.

                                  7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned trial

                     court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if

                     it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than three

                     cases, it would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his

                     antecedent before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail

                     application in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order

                     shall not be confirmed but if it is found on verification that

                     petitioner has antecedent 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.7,500/- with the High Court Legal

                     Services Committee, Patna within a period of two weeks from

                     today.


                                                                         (Satyavrat Verma, J)

Kundan/-

U     T