Patna High Court
Ajit KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The anticipatory bail application is allowed, and provisional bail is granted subject to conditions.
Summary
The petitioner, Ajit Kumar, was implicated in an excise case (Case No. 314/2025) for alleged recovery of 169.660 litres of liquor from a cowshed belonging to his brother. He contended that he had a clean antecedent, that no liquor was found in his possession, and that the only evidence was a confessional statement of Chandan Kumar made while in police custody, which he claimed lacked evidentiary value. The State opposed the grant of anticipatory bail. The Patna High Court, after hearing both sides, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to verification of his criminal antecedents under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The order further provided that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed, otherwise the provisional bail would be confirmed forthwith. Consequently, the anticipatory bail application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016 based on the facts presented.
- Whether a confessional statement made by a co‑accused in police custody is sufficient ground to deny anticipatory bail.
- Whether the court may impose conditions under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. while granting provisional anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise
- liquor
- Section 30
- clean antecedent
- confessional statement
- Section 482
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- B.N.S.S.
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.59795 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-314 Year-2025 Thana- Excise P.S. District- Nalanda
======================================================
Ajit Kumar S/o Late Rajesh Yadav R/o Village- Gadhpar, P.S.- Bihar, District-
Nalanda
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Bishwa Bijay Kumar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Gauri Shankar Gupta, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 06-01-2026 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, 2016.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 169.660 litres of liquor from a cowshed. It is next
submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such,
nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and the
cowshed belongs to his brother and he came to be implicated
based on confessional statement of Chandan Kumar in police
custody which does not have any evidentiary value. It is also
submitted that cowshed is a place outside the house and thus, is
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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 evidence against himself and
hence, would get implicated. It is next submitted that police in
mechanical manner implicated the petitioner without holding a
proper investigation when petitioner admittedly is a person with
clean antecedent.
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-bonds in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Special
Judge, Excise-IInd, Biharsharif, Nalanda in connection with
Excise P.S. Case Nalanda No.314/2025, 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 bonds of the petitioner shall verify
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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.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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