Patna High Court
Anjani ChauhanversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner subject to bail‑bond conditions and verification of his criminal antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Anjani Chauhan, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case registered under Sections 30(a) and 30(c) of the Excise Act for alleged recovery of liquor and jawa mahua from the Sone river. The petitioner argued that no liquor was recovered from his possession, the alleged recovery site is public, and the informant’s identity is omitted from the FIR, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case. The State opposed the bail, citing the petitioner’s alleged five prior Excise cases. The Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.25,000 with two sureties, subject to Section 438(2) conditions, and ordered verification of his criminal antecedent. The Court clarified that if the antecedent is found to be concealed, the bail may be revoked, otherwise the provisional order will be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner despite alleged offences under the Excise Act and alleged prior criminal antecedent.
- Whether the absence of recovery from the petitioner’s possession and the public nature of the alleged recovery site affect the grant of bail.
- Whether concealment of prior cases, if proven, warrants revocation of the provisional anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a), 30(c)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438
- Excise Act
- bail conditions
- criminal antecedent
- FIR
- public place recovery
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.83945 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-316 Year-2025 Thana- NAVINAGAR District- Aurangabad
======================================================
Anjani Chauhan S/o- Gopal Chauhan Village- Mahuwari PS-Nabinagar Distt-
Aurangabad
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ashok Kumar Singh
For the Opposite Party/s : Dr. Kumar Uday Pratap
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 19-01-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned APP for the State.
2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his
arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under
Sections 30(a) and 30(c) of the Excise Act.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the petitioner has antecedent of five cases under the Excise Act
and allegation is of recovery of 105 litres of liquor from bank of
Sone river along with 6000 litres of jawa mahua, which was
destroyed.
4. The 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 alleged
recovery is from a place, which does not belong to the petitioner
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.83945 of 2025(3) dt.19-01-2026
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and is accessible to public at large and he came to be implicated
at the instance of local person, but the name of the person, who
disclosed the name of the petitioner is not disclosed in the F.I.R.,
which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution. It is
next submitted that police in majority of cases implicating
innocent persons either at the behest of Chaukidar, local person,
secret information and confessional statement in a mechanical
manner without holding a proper investigation.
5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
6. 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.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five 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 Nabinagar P. S. Case No.316 of 2025, subject
to the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. The application stands allowed.
8. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.83945 of 2025(3) dt.19-01-2026
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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 five cases, 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 has antecedent of five cases only, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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