Patna High Court
Sharwan Choudhary @ Sarwan ChaudharyversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail, subject to verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedents.
Summary
Sharwan Choudhary was implicated in a case alleging recovery of 83.175 litres of liquor from his house, alleged to be an offence under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022. He applied for anticipatory bail, contending he has a clean antecedent, the liquor was in a joint family house, and no possession was proved at the time of arrest. The State opposed the bail. The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail on the condition that the petitioner furnish a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and that the trial court verify his criminal antecedents. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed; otherwise, it would be confirmed forthwith. The decision rests on the principles of anticipatory bail and the requirement of establishing possession and antecedent history.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
- Whether the alleged recovery of liquor from a joint family house establishes possession sufficient to deny bail.
- Whether the petitioner’s criminal antecedent must be verified before confirming anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- possession
- liquor
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- criminal antecedent
- joint family property
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.88 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-262 Year-2025 Thana- LALIT NARAYAN UNIVERSITY
District- Darbhanga
======================================================
Sharwan Choudhary @ Sarwan Chaudhary S/O Late Niranjan Chaudhary
Resident of Village - Fatealiganj, Naka No.1, Police Station- LNMU, District-
Darbhanga
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Nilendu Kumar Choudhary
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Upendra Kumar
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 13-01-2026 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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of
Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 83.175 litres of liquor from the 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.88 of 2026(2) dt.13-01-2026
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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 then 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.
4. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
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 from today, be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of
Rs.500/- (Rupees five hundred) 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
University (L.N.M.U.) P.S. Case No.262/2025, subject to the
conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter
shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.88 of 2026(2) dt.13-01-2026
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case, in that event, it would be presumed that petitioner had
concealed his antecedent before this court, as such, the
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)
amit/-
U T
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