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Patna High Court

Dhananjay Kumar @ Karu @ ChhotuversusThe State of Bihar

Decided
Disposal
DISPOSED

Holding

The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional bail subject to bond, sureties and verification of antecedents.

Summary

The petitioner, Dhananjay Kumar, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. in connection with a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act alleging recovery of 12.21 litres of liquor from his joint family house. The petitioner argued that he was not arrested on the spot, that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, and that the recent amendment to the Excise Act had abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.5,000 with two sureties and a further deposit of Rs.2,500 with the Advocates’ Association, subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedents. The order stipulated that if more than one prior case is found, the bail may be revoked, otherwise it will be confirmed.

Issues considered

  • Whether anticipatory bail can be granted when the alleged offence involves alleged possession of liquor in a joint family house without conscious possession.
  • Effect of the amendment to the Excise Act removing deemed possession on the grant of anticipatory bail.
  • What conditions may be imposed under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. for provisional anticipatory bail.

Legislation cited

Subjects

  • anticipatory bail
  • Excise Act
  • Section 30
  • joint family property
  • deemed possession
  • Section 438
  • bail conditions
  • criminal antecedent

Judgment

                      IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                              CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6712 of 2026
                  Arising Out of PS. Case No.-272 Year-2025 Thana- EKANGARSARAI District- Nalanda
                 ======================================================
                 Dhananjay Kumar @ Karu @ Chhotu Son of Late Balindar Prasad R/o
                 Village - Dhanhar, P.S. - Ekangar Sarai, Dist. - Nalanda(Bihar).

                                                                                ... ... Petitioner/s
                                                      Versus
                 The State of Bihar

                                                        ... ... Opposite Party/s
                 ======================================================
                 Appearance :
                 For the Petitioner/s     :     Mr.Rajeev Kumar
                 For the Opposite Party/s :     Mr.Manoj 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 has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act

                   and allegation is of recovery of 12.21 litres of liquor from the

                   house of the petitioner.

                                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.6712 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 was implicated in the instant case at the

          instance of children who were present in the house.

                       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.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) 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 Ekangarsarai P. S. Case No.272 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

          found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one case, then
               Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6712 of 2026(2) dt.04-02-2026
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                         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 has antecedent of one case only, 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.2500/- 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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