Patna High Court
Manish KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court held that anticipatory bail may be granted under Section 438 CrPC notwithstanding the alleged possession of liquor, provided the petitioners furnish bail bonds and their antecedents are verified.
Summary
Manish Kumar and Sandesh Kumar, owners of two motorcycles, 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 69.120 litres of liquor. They argued they had clean or minimal criminal antecedents and were not in actual possession of the liquor, asserting they were unaware of any misuse of their vehicles. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioners be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.5,000 each with two sureties, subject to verification of their criminal antecedents. The order stipulated that if verification revealed undisclosed antecedents, the provisional bail would not be confirmed. The application was allowed, granting provisional anticipatory bail with conditions.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 CrPC for an offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
- Whether ownership of the vehicle used in the alleged offence implicates the owners for bail considerations.
- Whether the petitioners' criminal antecedents affect the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438
- Excise Act
- vehicle ownership
- criminal antecedent
- bail bond
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.65158 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-115 Year-2025 Thana- Nawalpur District- West Champaran
======================================================
1. Manish Kumar Son of Pramod Prasad R/o Village - Rupwaliya Chandraha,
P.S. - Nawalpur, District - West Champaran.
2. Sandesh Kumar Son of Badhu Yadav R/o Village - Rupwaliya Chandraha,
P.S. - Nawalpur, Dist. - West Champaran.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Umesh Kumar Gupta
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Kumar Ranjit Ranjan
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 07-01-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and
learned APP for the State.
2. The petitioners seek bail in anticipation of their
arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under
Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
the petitioner no.1 is a person with clean antecedent and
petitioner no.2 has antecedent of one case and the allegation is
of recovery of 69.120 litres of liquor from two motorcycles.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from their conscious possession and they came to be
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.65158 of 2025(3) dt.07-01-2026
2/3
implicated based on the fact that they are owner of the seized
vehicle. It is next submitted that no prudent person would use
their own vehicle for committing a crime and thus, would create
evidence against themselves and hence, would get implicated. It
is further submitted that petitioners were completely unaware
that their friend would misuse the vehicle in the manner as
alleged.
5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners, above-named, in the
event of their arrest or surrender before the learned Court below
within a period of six weeks, is directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on their furnishing bail-bonds in
the sum of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) each 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 Nawalpur P. S. Case No.115 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 petitioners shall
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.65158 of 2025(3) dt.07-01-2026
3/3
verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event,
if it is found that petitioner no.1 has antecedent of even one case
and petitioner no.2 has antecedent of more than one case, then it
would be presumed that petitioners for the purposes of obtaining
anticipatory bail had concealed their 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 no.1 has antecedent of even one case and
petitioner no.2 has antecedent of one case only, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
Checking your session…