Patna High Court
Prakash KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional anticipatory bail subject to conditions.
Summary
Prakash Kumar, a resident of Vaishali district, applied for anticipatory bail after learning that he might be arrested under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 10,600 litres of liquor from his house, which is a joint family property. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, he has a clean antecedent, and the concept of deemed possession was removed by the 2018 amendment to the Act; moreover, the FIR does not name the informant. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to verification of his criminal antecedent under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The court ordered that if any antecedent is found, the bail may be revoked; otherwise, the provisional bail will be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted when alleged possession of liquor is not in conscious possession and the accused has a clean antecedent
- Whether the amendment removing deemed possession affects the applicability of Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Whether Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. permits provisional anticipatory bail pending verification of antecedent
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 30
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- deemed possession
- Section 482
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.85739 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-252 Year-2025 Thana- SARAI District- Vaishali
======================================================
Prakash Kumar Son of Late Bhupendra Sharma @ Bhumi Sharma Resident of
Village - Mirpur Patadh, Ward No. 4, Police Station - Sarai in the District at
Vaishali.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Ranjeet Kumar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Parmanand Prasad, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 22-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case registered
for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of Bihar
Prohibition and Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 10.600 litres of liquor from house of the petitioner.
It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the
spot, as such, nothing was recovered from his conscious
possession and the house in question is a joint family property,
as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner
who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.85739 of 2025(3) dt.22-01-2026
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house was within his knowledge and after amendment in the
Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession
and presumed offender has been done away with 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 FIR, which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution, when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean
antecedent.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
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, is directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on his furnishing bail-bond in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive Special
Excise Court (II)-cum-Additional District & Sessions Judge,
Vaishali at Hajipur in connection with Sarai P.S. Case No.252 of
2025, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 482(2)
of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.85739 of 2025(3) dt.22-01-2026
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7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond 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)
Sanjay/-
U T
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