Patna High Court
Rakesh DasversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Rakesh Das, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act for alleged recovery of 557.730 litres of liquor from his house and a vehicle. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, the liquor was not found in his conscious possession, the house is a joint family property, and he is not the owner of the seized vehicle. The petitioner also contended that the amendment to the Excise Act, 2018, has abolished the concepts of deemed possession and presumed offender, making the charge based solely on secret information. The State opposed the anticipatory bail. The Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and verification of his antecedent, and ordered that the provisional bail be confirmed only if the antecedent check remains clean.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 CrPC in a case involving alleged possession of liquor under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act
- Whether the amendment to the Excise Act, 2018, eliminates the doctrine of deemed possession and presumed offender
- Whether the petitioner’s lack of conscious possession and joint family ownership of the property preclude arrest
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438 CrPC
- Excise Act
- deemed possession
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.76258 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-346 Year-2025 Thana- MOTIHARI MUFASIL District- East
Champaran
======================================================
Rakesh Das S/o Sri Ratan Das R/o Village- Sirsa Bangali Colony, P.S.-
Motihari Muffasil, District- East Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Natraj Verma
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Uma Shankar Prasad Singh- A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-01-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned APP for the State.
2. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the defects as pointed out by the office stands removed.
3. 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.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is
of recovery of 557.730 litres of liquor from the house of the
petitioner and a car.
5. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.76258 of 2025(2) dt.19-01-2026
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recovered from his conscious possession and is not the owner of
the seized vehicle 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 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 without holding a proper
investigation.
6. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
7. 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.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) 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
Motihari Muffasil P. S. Case No.346 of 2025, subject to the
conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.76258 of 2025(2) dt.19-01-2026
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8. The application stands allowed.
9. 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)
vikash/-
U T
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