Patna High Court
Rajan Kumar @ Ranjan Lal DevversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioners, subject to verification of their antecedents and compliance with the stipulated conditions.
Summary
Petitioners Rajan Kumar and Sonu Kumar sought anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022 for allegedly recovering 12.6 litres of liquor from an orchard. They argued they had no conscious possession, were not owners of the orchard, and possessed clean antecedents. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, considering these submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on the filing of bail bonds of Rs.500 each with two sureties and verification of the petitioners' criminal antecedents by the Special Excise Court. If any antecedent is discovered, the bail will not be confirmed; otherwise, it will be confirmed forthwith. The application for anticipatory bail was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioners are entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2022.
- Whether the lack of conscious possession and clean antecedent justify granting anticipatory bail.
- Whether the conditions imposed under Section 482(2) of the CrPC are appropriate.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Section 30
- Section 482
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- liquor seizure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.88971 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-125 Year-2025 Thana- Sonki District- Darbhanga
======================================================
1. Rajan Kumar @ Ranjan Lal Dev S/O Late Laxmi Lal Dev R/o Village-
Sonaki, P.s.- Sonaki, District- Darbhanga, Bihar
2. Sonu Kumar @ Sonu Roy S/O Gariban Sahni R/o Village- Sonaki, P.s.-
Sonaki, District- Darbhanga, Bihar
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Rajeev Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Rajesh Kumar, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 05-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioners apprehend their 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 petitioners submits that
petitioners are persons with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 12.6 litres of liquor from an orchard. It is next
submitted that petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as
such, nothing was recovered from their conscious possession
and are not the owner of the orchard and they came to be
implicated at the instance of local person but the name of the
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person who disclosed the name of the petitioners is not
disclosed in the FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the
prosecution when petitioners admittedly are persons with clean
antecedent.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
5. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners, above-named, in the
event of their arrest or surrender before the learned Court below
within a period of six weeks, are directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on their furnishing bail-bonds in
the sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) each with two
sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned
Special Excise Court-I, Darbhanga (Bihar) in connection with
Sonaki P.S. Case No.125 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 bonds of the petitioners shall
verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event,
if it is found that petitioners have antecedent of even one case,
then it would be presumed that petitioners for the purposes of
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obtaining anticipatory bail had concealed their 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 petitioners are persons 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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