Patna High Court
Shrawan YadavversusThe State Of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The High Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedents.
Summary
Shrawan Yadav applied for anticipatory bail after learning that a case had been registered against him under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 9.160 litres of liquor from his house, which is a joint family property. He argued that he had no conscious possession of the liquor, that the concept of deemed possession had been abolished, and that the FIR was based on the testimony of a hostile watchman. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the 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 antecedents under Section 482(2) of the CrPC. The court clarified that if any prior case is found, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The application for anticipatory bail was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail in the case registered under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
- Whether the alleged possession of liquor in a joint family house can be attributed to the petitioner.
- Whether the concept of deemed possession is applicable post the 2018 amendment.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- deemed possession
- joint family property
- liquor offence
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- clean antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.71853 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-94 Year-2025 Thana- BISHANPUR District- Darbhanga
======================================================
Shrawan Yadav S/O Ram Prasad Yadav R/O Vill.- Baghla Mohammadpur,
P.S.- Bishanpur, Dist.- Darbhanga.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Aryan Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Ramesh Chandra, 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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) 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 9.160 litres of liquor from from house of the
petitioner. 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 after amendment in
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.71853 of 2025(3) dt.07-01-2026
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the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed
possession and presumed offender has been done away with. It
is also submitted that though the liquor is alleged to have been
recovered from house but then in the FIR it has been recorded as
a hut and the petitioner came to be implicated at the instance of
Chowkidar with whom petitioner is on an inimical term. It is
also submitted that if Chowkidar was aware of the involvement
of the petitioner in the occurrence then why he did not inform
the police prior to institution of the instant FIR which also casts
an aspersion on the case of the prosecution.
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 Special
Judge-I (Excise Act), Darbhanga in connection with Bishunpur
P.S. Case No.94 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down
under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.71853 of 2025(3) dt.07-01-2026
3/3
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
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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