Patna High Court
Om KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional bail subject to conditions.
Summary
The petitioner, Om Kumar, 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 30.39 litres of liquor from his joint family house. The petitioner argued that he had no prior arrest, no liquor was found in his conscious possession, and the house being joint family property precludes a finding of possession. The prosecution relied on a confessional statement of a co-accused made in police custody, which the petitioner contended lacks evidentiary value. The court noted the amendment to the Excise Act that abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender, and therefore granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a Rs.500 bail bond, two sureties, verification of antecedents, and a deposit of Rs.1,500 with the Advocates’ Association. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 CrPC when the alleged offence is under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act and no arrest has occurred.
- Whether a confessional statement of a co-accused made in police custody can be relied upon to deny anticipatory bail.
- Whether the fact that the alleged liquor was found in a joint family house negates the concept of possession for bail purposes.
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
- confessional statement
- joint family property
- bail bond
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6330 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-125 Year-2025 Thana- Lakho District- Begusarai
======================================================
Om Kumar Son of Amresh Singh R/o Village- Lakho, ward no. 08, P.S.-
Lakho, District- Begusarai
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Sandip Kumar Gautam
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Sanjay Kumar
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 04-02-2026 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 30.39 litres of liquor from house of the petitioner
and Anant Kumar.
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
with certainty that it was the petitioner, who had kept the liquor
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6330 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
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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 based on
confessional statement of Anant in police custody, which does
not have any evidentiary value.
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
Lakho P. S. Case No.125 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid
down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
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
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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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