Patna High Court
Chunnu Singh @ Monu Singh @ Manu SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court ordered provisional anticipatory bail with bond and sureties, subject to verification of antecedents, and stipulated conditions for its confirmation.
Summary
The petitioner, Chunnu Singh, sought anticipatory bail after learning of a pending case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018, alleging recovery of liquor and a motorcycle from a public place not owned by him. He argued that he was not in possession of the seized items, the informant’s name was omitted from the FIR, and the investigation was mechanically conducted without proper inquiry. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs.20,000 with two sureties and directed the trial court to verify the petitioner’s criminal antecedents. If more than four prior cases are found, the bail would not be confirmed; if exactly four, it would be confirmed forthwith. The order was made under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 given the alleged lack of possession and procedural deficiencies.
- Whether the trial court should verify the petitioner’s criminal antecedents before confirming the bail.
Legislation cited
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 — s. 30(a)
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- possession
- Section 30
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- criminal antecedent
- provisional bail
- Section 482
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.82662 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-132 Year-2025 Thana- BUXAR INDUSTRIAL District- Buxar
======================================================
Chunnu Singh @ Monu Singh @ Manu Singh S/O Ramashankar Singh R/O
Villaged- Majhariya, P.S- Buxar (Industrial), Distt.- Buxar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Amit Kumar Pandey
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Anuj Kumar Shrivastava
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 17-01-2026 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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of
Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner has antecedent of four cases under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 179.005 litres of liquor from a bush
along with a motorcycle. It is next submitted that 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 even alleged recovery is from a place which does
not belong to the petitioner and is accessible to public at large
and he came to be implicated at the instance of local person but
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.82662 of 2025(2) dt.17-01-2026
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then the name of person who disclosed the name of the
petitioner is not disclosed in the FIR, which casts an aspersion
on the case of the prosecution. It is also submitted that once an
accused is implicated in a case relating to excise, the police
starts implicating mechanically either through chowkidar, local
person, confessional statement or secret information without
holding a proper investigation.
4. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
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 from today, be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of
Rs.20,000/- (Rupees twenty 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
Buxar (Industrial) P.S. Case No.132/2025, subject to the
conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter
shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than
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four cases, in that event, it would be presumed that petitioner
had concealed his antecedent before this court, as such, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed but if
on verification it is found that petitioner has antecedent of four
cases, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall
be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
amit/-
U T
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