Patna High Court
Vinod PaswanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court allowed provisional anticipatory bail, subject to verification of antecedents and compliance with conditions under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Summary
Petitioners Vinod Paswan and Avishek Kumar applied for anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case registered under Sections 274 and 275 of the B.N.S., 2023 and Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022. They contended that the only evidence against them was a confessional statement made by Rahul Kumar while in police custody, which they argued lacked evidentiary value, and that they were not in possession of the seized vehicle. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioners be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.15,000 each with two sureties, subject to verification of their criminal antecedents and compliance with conditions under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The order was made conditional: if verification shows a clean antecedent for petitioner‑1 and no more than three cases for petitioner‑2, the bail will be confirmed; otherwise it will be set aside. The court also required the petitioners to deposit Rs.5,000 each with the Advocates’ Association within two weeks. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case involving alleged excise offences under Sections 274, 275 of B.N.S., 2023 and Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
- Whether a confessional statement recorded in police custody has evidentiary value sufficient to deny anticipatory bail.
- Whether the petitioners' criminal antecedents affect the grant of anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S., 2023 — s. 274, 275
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise offences
- confessional statement
- bail bond
- Section 274
- Section 275
- Section 30(a)
- verification of antecedent
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.82425 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-993 Year-2025 Thana- MAHUA District- Vaishali
======================================================
1. Vinod Paswan S/O Late Simlal Paswan @ Late Shivnath Paswan R/O
Senopatti Mahadeo Math, Kanhauli, P.S- Mahua, Distt.- Vaishali.
2. Avishek Kumar S/O Pawan Rai R/O Village- Litiyahi, P.S- Raghopur, Distt.-
Vaishali.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Ms. Sweety Sinha, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Rana Randhir Singh, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 31-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case
registered for the offences punishable under Sections 274 and
275 of B.N.S., 2023 as well as Section 30(a) of Bihar
Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioner no.1 is a person with clean antecedent and petitioner
no.2 has antecedents of three cases out of which two cases are
under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 1360 litres
of liquor from a Tata Magic vehicle. It is next submitted that
petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.82425 of 2025(3) dt.31-01-2026
2/3
recovered from their conscious possession and are not the owner
of the seized vehicle and came to be implicated based on
confessional statement of Rahul Kumar in police custody, which
does not have any evidentiary value. It is also submitted that
once an accused is implicated in a case relating to excise, the
police starts implicating mechanically either at the instance of
Chowkidar, local person, confessional statement or secret
information without holding a proper investigation.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners, above-named, in the
event of their arrest or surrender before the learned Court below
within a period of six weeks, are directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on their furnishing bail-bonds in
the sum of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand) each with
two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of
learned Special Judge Exclusive Special Prohibition and Excise
Court-II-cum-District & Additional Sessions Judge at Hajipur,
Vaishali in connection with Mahua P.S. Case No.993 of 2025,
subject to the conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the
B.N.S.S.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.82425 of 2025(3) dt.31-01-2026
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 petitioners shall
verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event,
if it is found that petitioner no.1 has antecedent of even one case
and petitioner no.2 has antecedents of more than three cases,
then it would be presumed that petitioners for the purposes of
obtaining anticipatory bail had concealed their 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 no.1 is a person with
clean antecedent and petitioner no.2 has antecedents of only
three cases, in that event, the provisional anticipatory bail order
shall be confirmed forthwith.
8. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioners,
based on instruction, submits that petitioners undertake to
deposit an amount of Rs.5,000/- each with Advocates’
Association, Patna High Court within a period of two weeks
from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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