Patna High Court
Javed AliversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to conditions and verification of his criminal antecedent.
Summary
Javed Ali, the owner of a bus, was implicated in a case where 1522.92 litres of liquor were recovered from the vehicle, leading to charges under Sections 30(a), 32(i)(ii), 36 and 41(i) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016-18. He applied for anticipatory bail, arguing that he had a clean antecedent, was not in possession of the liquor at the time of arrest, and was unaware that passengers were carrying the liquor. The State opposed the bail. The Court considered the submissions and, noting the petitioner’s claim of no prior criminal record, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and a six‑week window for surrender before the trial court. The order also stipulated that the trial court must verify the petitioner’s antecedent; if any prior case is found, the bail would not be confirmed, otherwise it would be confirmed immediately. The decision rests on the provisions of Section 438(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code and Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the circumstances of the alleged liquor seizure and his claim of clean antecedent.
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
- Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.) — s. 438(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- prohibition law
- liquor seizure
- bus owner
- clean antecedent
- bail conditions
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.621 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-340 Year-2023 Thana- KANTI District- Muzaffarpur
======================================================
Javed Ali S/o Yamin Ali R/o 10/128 Hamdard Nagar B, Jamalpur P.S.-
Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. Permanent Address B-289, Gali No. 14, Shri Ram
Nagar Colony, Rajiv Nagar, P.S.- Khajuri Khas, Delhi
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Shivanand Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 17-01-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case
registered for the offences punishable under Sections 30(a),
32(i)(ii), 36 and 41(i) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act,
2016-18.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 1522.920 litres of liquor from a bus.
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 petitioner came to be implicated based on the fact that he is
owner of the bus. It is next submitted that no prudent person
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.621 of 2026(2) dt.17-01-2026
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would use his own vehicle for committing an occurrence and
thus would create evidence against himself and hence would get
implicated and at the same time shall bring disrepute to his
business. It is also submitted that petitioner being the owner was
not aware that passengers were carrying liquor.
5. 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.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 Kanti
P.S. Case No. 340 of 2023, 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 even one case, it
would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his antecedent
before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail application in
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.621 of 2026(2) dt.17-01-2026
3/3
that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
confirmed but if it is found on verification that petitioner is a
person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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