Patna High Court
Amit Kumar @ ChintuversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Anticipatory bail may be granted where the petitioner has a clean antecedent and there is no material evidence of his possession or knowledge of the alleged liquor, subject to verification of antecedent.
Summary
Amit Kumar was implicated in a case under Sections 30(a), 41(1) and 41(2) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for allegedly possessing 17.250 litres of liquor recovered from a house that forms part of a joint family property adjacent to a petrol pump. The petitioner argued that he has a clean antecedent, that the liquor was not found in his immediate possession, and that the FIR does not disclose the informant, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case. The State opposed the grant of anticipatory bail. The Court, after considering these submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail‑bond of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to verification of his criminal antecedent and the conditions of Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The order was made conditional that if any prior case is discovered, the bail would be revoked, otherwise it would be confirmed. The application for anticipatory bail was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act where the alleged liquor is not in the petitioner’s immediate possession.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent and the joint family nature of the property justify granting anticipatory bail.
- Whether the absence of the informant’s name in the FIR affects the merit of the bail application.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- clean antecedent
- joint family property
- liquor seizure
- criminal procedure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.69963 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-657 Year-2022 Thana- Excise P.S. District- Jamui
======================================================
Amit Kumar @ Chintu S/o Subendar Singh R/o Village- Nawdiha, PS-
Khaira, District- Jamui
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Niranjan Parihar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 07-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case registered
for the offences punishable under Sections 30(a), 41(1) and
41(2) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 17.250 litres of liquor from house of the petitioner
adjacent to a petrol pump. It is next submitted that petitioner
was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered
from his conscious possession and the house in question is a
joint family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty
that it was petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the
liquor kept in the house was within his knowledge and he came
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to be implicated at the instance of local person but then name of
the person who disclosed the name of the petitioner is not
disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution, when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean
antecedent.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. 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-bond in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned Exclusive
Excise Court-IInd, Jamui in connection with JAM P.S. Case
No.657 of 2022, subject to the conditions laid down under
Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
7. 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 even one case, then it
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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 is a person with clean antecedent, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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