Patna High Court
Manoj PaswanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedents and compliance with stipulated conditions.
Summary
The petitioner, Manoj Paswan, sought anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 6.375 litres of liquor from a motorcycle he owned. He argued that he had a clean antecedent, was not in possession of the liquor at the time of seizure, and was unaware that another individual, Dablu, misused his vehicle. The State opposed the bail, contending that the seizure indicated involvement. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and a deposit of Rs.1,500 with the Advocates’ Association, pending verification of the petitioner’s antecedents. The order stipulated that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would be revoked, but if the petitioner’s clean record is confirmed, the bail would be affirmed. The decision was based on the principles of Section 482(2) of the BNSS, allowing the court to prevent abuse of the legal process.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted to the petitioner under Section 482(2) of the BNSS in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
- Whether the petitioner’s lack of conscious possession and clean antecedent justify the grant of anticipatory bail.
- What conditions should be imposed on the provisional anticipatory bail order.
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- vehicle ownership
- clean antecedent
- Section 482(2) BNSS
- criminal procedure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6566 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-316 Year-2025 Thana- KUSHESHWARASTHAN District-
Darbhanga
======================================================
Manoj Paswan S/O Jagdish Paswan Resident of Village- Dasaut, P.S.-
Hathauri, Dist- Samastipur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Saurav Anand
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Dr. Kumar Uday Pratap
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 04-02-2026 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 Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 6.375 litres of liquor from a motorcycle.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and he came to be
implicated based on the fact that he is owner of the seized
vehicle. It is next submitted that no prudent person would use
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his own vehicle for committing an occurrence and thus would
create evidence against himself and hence would get implicated,
it is further submitted that petitioner was completely unaware
that Dablu would misuse the vehicle in the manner as alleged,
who was also apprehneded from the spot along with Amit.
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, 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
Kusheshwarasthan P.S. Case No. 316 of 2025, subject to the
conditions as laid down under Section 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 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
seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his antecedent before this
Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
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confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner is a
person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
8. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner
based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit
an amount of Rs. 1,500/- with Advocates’ Association, Patna High
Court within a period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sumit/-
U T
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