Patna High Court
Arvind Paswan @ Arvind KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to bond, sureties, and verification of antecedents.
Summary
Arvind Paswan sought anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022 for allegedly possessing 113.70 litres of liquor in his cowshed. He argued that the liquor was not in his immediate possession, the cowshed was accessible to villagers, and the case was based on secret information without proper investigation. The State opposed the bail, citing his five prior excise cases. The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. and Section 482(2) of the BNSS, requiring a bail bond of Rs.25,000 with two sureties and a deposit of Rs.7,500 with the Advocate Association. The order conditioned confirmation of bail on verification of his criminal antecedent, stating that if more than five prior cases are found, the bail would not be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted under Section 438 Cr.P.C. in a case of alleged liquor possession under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
- Whether the petitioner’s prior five excise cases affect the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise offence
- liquor possession
- Section 30
- Section 438
- criminal antecedent
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.5565 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-763 Year-2025 Thana- SITAMARHI District- Sitamarhi
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Arvind Paswan @ Arvind Kumar S/o Satyanarayan Paswan @ Satan Paswan
R/o Village- Bariyarpur, Ward No.37, P.S- Sitamarhi, Dist- Sitamarhi, Bihar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Zaki Haider, 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 five cases under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 113.70 litres of liquor from the
cowshed of the petitioner.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and cowshed is a place
outside the house and, thus, is accessible to villagers at large. It
is further submitted that no prudent person would use his own
premises for committing an occurrence and, thus, would create
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.5565 of 2026(2) dt.03-02-2026
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evidence against himself and hence would get implicated. It is
next submitted that petitioner came to be implicated based on
the secret information which is the easiest way to implicate
someone. It is also 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.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty-five 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 Sitamarhi P.S. Case No. 763 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
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court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if
it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than five 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 five 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 Advocate Association
of the Patna High Court within a period of two weeks from
today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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