Patna High Court
Kishunandan RamversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner subject to conditions and verification of his criminal antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Kishunandan Ram, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Cr.P.C. in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act for alleged recovery of 92.745 litres of liquor from his joint family house. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, the house is jointly owned, and the amended Excise Act has done away with the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender. The State opposed the bail, contending the petitioner has seven prior cases under the Excise Act. The court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.35,000 with two sureties, subject to verification of his antecedents. It further stipulated that if more than seven prior cases are found, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted under Section 438 Cr.P.C. in a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act
- Whether the petitioner can be deemed to be in possession of liquor recovered from a joint family property
- Whether reliance on secret information alone justifies denial of anticipatory bail
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
- secret information
- joint family property
- bail conditions
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.6839 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-266 Year-2025 Thana- KHANPURA District- Samastipur
======================================================
Kishunandan Ram S/o Surendra Ram @ Sohindra Ram Resident of Village-
Masina, P.S.- Khanpur, Dist.- Samastipur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Shubhesh Pandey
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Chandra Bhushan Prasad- A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-02-2026 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 seven cases under the Excise
Act and allegation is of recovery of 92.745 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.6839 of 2026(2) dt.19-02-2026
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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 secret
information, which is the easiest way to implicate someone. It is
next submitted that police in majority of cases implicating
innocent persons either at the behest of Chaukidar, local person,
secret information and confessional statement in a mechanical
manner without holding a proper investigation.
5. Learned A.P.P. Sri Chandra Bhushan Prasad
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.35,000/- (Rupees Thirty 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 Khanpur P. S. Case No.266 of 2025, subject to
the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. The application stands allowed.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.6839 of 2026(2) dt.19-02-2026
3/3
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 seven cases,
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 has antecedent of seven cases only, in that event,
the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed
forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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