Patna High Court
Santosh YadavversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court held that provisional anticipatory bail may be granted, subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent, as he has a clean record and was not in possession of the seized liquor.
Summary
Santosh Yadav, a resident of Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, feared arrest in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 1,486.56 litres of liquor from a motorcycle. He asserted that he has a clean antecedent, was not in possession of the liquor at the time of seizure, and is not the owner of the vehicle, claiming the investigation relied on secret information. The petitioner sought anticipatory bail, while the State opposed the relief. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail on the condition of furnishing bail bonds and sureties, subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent under Section 482(2) of the BNSS. The order further directed the petitioner to deposit a sum with the Advocates’ Association and stipulated that the provisional bail would be confirmed only if the petitioner is found to have a clean record.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail is warranted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act where the accused was not in possession of the seized liquor.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent and lack of ownership of the seized vehicle justify granting anticipatory bail.
- Whether provisional anticipatory bail can be conditioned on verification of antecedent under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Negotiable Securities Act — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- criminal procedure
- seizure of liquor
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6640 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-408 Year-2025 Thana- RIVILGANJ District- Saran
======================================================
Santosh Yadav S/o Bhushan Yadav R/o vill - Ghuri Tola, P.S.- Bairiya, Distt.-
Ballia, U.P.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Dewendra Narayan Singh
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Ajay Kumar No. 2
======================================================
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 1486.56 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 is not owner of the
seized vehicle. It is further submitted that he came to be
implicated based on secret information which is the easiest way
to implicate someone without holding a proper investigation
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6640 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
2/3
when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean antecedent.
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 Rivilganj
P.S. Case No. 408 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
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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6640 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
3/3
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
Checking your session…