Patna High Court
Sanjay MandalversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail is granted subject to a bail bond, sureties and verification of antecedents, with the order to be confirmed only if the petitioner has no more than four prior cases.
Summary
The petitioner, Sanjay Mandal, sought anticipatory bail in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022, alleging recovery of 12 litres of liquor from a joint family house. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, the house being a joint family property, and that the police relied on secret information without proper investigation. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.20,000 and two sureties of equal amount, subject to verification of his criminal antecedents. The court stipulated that if more than four prior cases are found, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022 given the petitioner’s prior criminal antecedents.
- Whether the fact that the alleged liquor was recovered from a joint family house, and not from the petitioner’s personal possession, negates the basis for arrest.
- Whether the court may condition anticipatory bail on verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedents.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise offence
- joint family property
- criminal antecedents
- bail conditions
- Section 30(a)
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.859 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-378 Year-2025 Thana- SABAUR District- Bhagalpur
======================================================
Sanjay Mandal S/o- Late Button Mandal Resident of Village- Lailakh PS-
Sabour, Dist- Bhagalpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Md. Nazir Ansari, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-01-2026 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, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner has antecedents of four cases under the Excise Act
and allegation is of recovery of 12 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 house was within his knowledge and he came to be
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.859 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026
2/3
implicated based on secret information, which is the easiest way
to implicate someone. 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 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.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) with two
sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned
District & Additional Sessions Judge-12-cum-Special Excise
Judge-2, Bhagalpur in connection with Sabour P.S. Case No.378
of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down under Section
482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond of the petitioner shall verify
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.859 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026
3/3
the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
found that petitioner has antecedent of more than four 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 antecedents of only four cases, in that event,
the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed
forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
Checking your session…
Lawyer court records for this case
Associated through the court’s case reference.