Patna High Court
Puneet PaswanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to verification of the petitioner’s antecedent and compliance with the stipulated conditions.
Summary
The petitioner, Puneet Paswan, applied for anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case registered under Section 328 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 30(a) and 30(c) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016, relating to the alleged recovery of 11,000 litres of liquor from a riverbank. He asserted that he has a clean criminal record, that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, and that the alleged site is public and not his property. The State opposed the bail, arguing the seriousness of the offences. The Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs 1,000 with two sureties and directed verification of the petitioner’s antecedent by the trial court. If the verification shows any prior case, the bail may be revoked; if the petitioner is confirmed to have a clean record, the bail will be confirmed. The order was made under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. and Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case involving alleged liquor smuggling and offences under Section 328 IPC and the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent and lack of possession of the alleged liquor justify anticipatory bail
- Whether the conditions imposed under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C. and Section 482(2) BNSS are appropriate
Legislation cited
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 — s. 30(a), 30(c)
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Indian Penal Code — s. 328
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- clean antecedent
- Section 328 IPC
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- liquor seizure
- Criminal Procedure Code
- BNSS
- provisional bail
- verification of antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.7401 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-477 Year-2021 Thana- MASAUDHI District- Patna
======================================================
Puneet Paswan S/O Munnu Paswan R/O Village- Kajichak, P.S- Masaurhi,
District- Patna, Bihar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Vishal Prasad, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh, A.P.P.
======================================================
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 328 of the
Indian Penal Code as well as Sections 30(a) and 30(c) of the
Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 11,000 litres of liquor from a place near the bank of
a river.
4. 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 alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner
and is accessible to villagers at large. It is further submitted that
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petitioner came to be implicated based on the secret information
which is the easiest way to implicate someone without holding a
proper investigation of the case, more so, when petitioner
admittedly is a person with clean antecedent.
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, let the petitioner above-named, in the
event of his arrest or surrender within a period of six weeks
from today, be released on provisional anticipatory bail on
furnishing bail bonds of Rs.1,000/- (Rupees One 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 Masaurhi P.S. Case No. 477 of 2021, subject
to the conditions as laid down under Section 438(2) of the
Cr.P.C./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 if
it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, it
would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his antecedent
before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail application in
that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
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confirmed but if it is found on verification that petitioner is a
person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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