Patna High Court
Lav Kumar SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court confirmed the provisional anticipatory bail granted to the petitioner, subject to the condition of depositing Rs.1500 with the Advocates’ Association.
Summary
Lav Kumar Singh, the owner of a house from which 150.230 litres of liquor were recovered, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018, claiming he had no conscious possession and a clean antecedent. He argued that the police mechanically implicated him merely because he owned the premises and that the informant’s name was omitted from the FIR, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case. The State opposed the bail, contending that the recovery of liquor justified arrest. The Patna High Court, after hearing counsel, confirmed the provisional anticipatory bail previously granted on 22.12.2025, imposing a condition that the petitioner deposit Rs.1500 with the Advocates’ Association within two weeks. The court held that ownership of the property alone does not constitute sufficient grounds for arrest without evidence of personal involvement. Consequently, the bail was upheld with the stipulated condition.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner, as the owner of the premises where liquor was recovered, is liable to be arrested under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.
- Whether the anticipatory bail previously granted should be confirmed despite the State’s opposition.
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- liquor seizure
- ownership of premises
- clean antecedent
- bail conditions
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.87799 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-206 Year-2025 Thana- EXCISE UDAKISHUNGANJ District-
Madhepura
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Lav Kumar Singh S/o Late Dukhbhanjan Singh Resident of village- Khurhan,
Ward No 07, P.S.- Alamnagar, District- Madhepura ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s
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Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Barun Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms. Sharda Kumari, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 31-01-2026 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 (Amendment) Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 150.230 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
from perusal of Annexure-2, it would manifest that the house in
question was given on rent to Rupesh Kumar, a political worker,
but then police in a mechanical manner without investigating the
case in a correct perspective mechanically implicated the
petitioner merely for the reason that he is owner of the house. It is
also submitted that no prudent person would use his own premises
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.87799 of 2025(3) dt.31-01-2026
2/2
for committing an occurrence and thus, would create evidence
against himself and hence, would get implicated. It is also
submitted that petitioner came to be implicated at the instance of
local person but then 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. It is further
submitted that petitioner has already been granted the privilege of
provisional anticipatory bail by an order dated 22.12.2025 by a
learned Coordinate Bench.
4. Learned APP opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. Considering the submissions made by learned
counsel for the petitioner, the provisional anticipatory bail is
confirmed on the same terms and conditions.
6. At this stage, learned counsel for the petitioner, based
on instruction, submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit an
amount of Rs.1500/- with Advocates’ Association, Patna High
Court within a period of two weeks from today.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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