Patna High Court
Ranjeet Sahani @ Ranjeet KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court ordered provisional anticipatory bail subject to conditions and verification of the petitioner’s antecedent, with confirmation contingent on the number of prior cases.
Summary
The petitioner, Ranjeet Sahani, sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act, wherein liquor was allegedly recovered from a motorcycle and a straw house linked to him. He contended that he was not in possession of the seized liquor, did not own the vehicle, and that the straw house was a communal structure, suggesting a malicious framing by an adversary. The State opposed the bail, emphasizing the petitioner’s antecedent of five prior excise cases. The Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs. 25,000 with two sureties and directed verification of his criminal antecedent. It further stipulated that if the verification reveals more than five prior cases, the bail would not be confirmed, whereas confirmation would follow if the antecedent is limited to five cases.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner in an excise case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act considering his prior criminal antecedents.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Negotiable Securities Act (BNSS) — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- Section 30
- Bihar Excise Act
- criminal antecedent
- bail bond
- Section 482(2) BNSS
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.7133 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-1 Year-2025 Thana- NAANPUR District- Sitamarhi
======================================================
Ranjeet Sahani @ Ranjeet Kumar Son of Chote Sahani R/o Village - Banaul,
P.S. - Bokhara, Dist.- Sitamarhi.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Anil Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Md. Nazir Ansari
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-02-2026 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 has antecedent of five cases under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 375 ml of liquor from a motorcycle
along with 1.875 litres of liquor from a straw house of the
petitioner.
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 the owner
of the seized vehicle and the straw house is a place outside the
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house and thus is accessible to villagers at large. It is next
submitted that it appears that someone inimical to the petitioner
concealed meagre amount of liquor with an intent to implicate
the entire family members. It is further submitted that no
prudent person would use his own premises for committing an
occurrence and thus would create evidence against himself and
hence would get implicated. It is also submitted that once an
accused is implicated in a case relating to excise, the police
starts implicating mechanically.
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. 25,000/- (Rupees
Twenty-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 Nanpur P.S. Case No.
001 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
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event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than five
cases 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 has
antecedent of five cases, in that event the provisional anticipatory
bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sumit/-
U T
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