Patna High Court
Ritesh BhagatversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail is granted subject to bail bond, sureties, and verification of antecedent, with confirmation contingent on the nature of the antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Ritesh Bhagat, sought anticipatory bail fearing arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for alleged recovery of 207 litres of liquor from a bush not in his possession. He argued that the complaint originated from a chowkidar without prior police information and that no material was seized from him, questioning the propriety of the investigation. The State opposed the bail. The Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail on the condition that the petitioner furnish a bail bond of Rs.5,000 with two sureties and appear before the trial court within six weeks. The order was made subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent; if more than one prior case is found, the bail will not be confirmed, whereas if only one antecedent exists, the bail will be confirmed. The Court invoked its inherent powers under Section 482(2) of the BNSS to issue the order.
Issues considered
- What is the appropriateness of granting anticipatory bail to the petitioner under Section 482(2) of the BNSS in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act?
- Whether the petitioner’s antecedent criminal record should affect the confirmation of anticipatory bail.
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- Section 30
- Section 482
- criminal antecedent
- FIR
- bail conditions
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.84193 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-241 Year-2025 Thana- MANJHAGARH District- Gopalganj
======================================================
Ritesh Bhagat S/o Yugul Bhagat @ Jugul Prasad Resident of Village - Koini,
Police Station -Manjhagarh, District - Gopalganj
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Shashank Shekhar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Sanjay Kumar
======================================================
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 offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 207 litres of liquor from a bush.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
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 and he came to be
implicated at the instance of Chowkidar but then it is submitted
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.84193 of 2025(2) dt.17-01-2026
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that if the Chowkidar was aware about the involvement of the
petitioner in the occurrence, then why he did not inform the
police prior to institution of the instant FIR, which casts an
aspersion on the case of the prosecution. It is further 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.
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, the petitioner above-named, in the event
of his arrest or surrender before the learned trial court within a
period of six weeks from today, be released on Provisional
anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees
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 Manjhagarh P.S. Case
No. 241 of 2025, subject to the conditions as laid down under
Section 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 in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one
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case then it would be presumed that petitioner, for the purposes of
seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his antecedent before this
Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner has
antecedent of one case in that event the provisional anticipatory
bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sumit/-
U T
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