Patna High Court
Devnandan Sah @ Debu Ji @ Deva Nandan Sah @ DebojiversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail is granted subject to conditions and verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Devnandan Sah, applied for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in connection with a case under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act, alleging the recovery of 1304.4 litres of liquor from a pick‑up vehicle. The petitioner claimed he was not arrested at the spot, had no conscious possession of the liquor, was not the owner of the vehicle, and that the case was based on a confessional statement of another accused, which he argued lacked evidentiary value. The State opposed the bail, citing the petitioner’s antecedent of four prior Excise cases. The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail, directing the petitioner to furnish bail bonds of Rs 20,000 with two sureties, and conditioned the order on verification of his criminal antecedent; if more than four cases are found, the bail will not be confirmed. The order was made subject to the conditions of Section 438(2) CrPC and the trial court’s verification.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted under Section 438 CrPC for an offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
- Whether the petitioner’s antecedent of four prior Excise cases precludes the grant of anticipatory bail.
- Whether a confessional statement of another accused, without further investigation, can form the basis for denying anticipatory bail.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 438 CrPC
- Excise Act
- liquor seizure
- criminal antecedent
- confessional statement
- bail conditions
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.89249 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-87 Year-2025 Thana- Jhandapur District- Bhagalpur
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Devnandan Sah @ Debu Ji @ Deva Nandan Sah @ Deboji Son of Late Laxmi
Sah @ Late Lakshmi Sah @ Laxmi Sah Resident of village - Pipra (Pipra
Dumri), Ward No.- 15, Dumri, P.S.- Ratanpur, District - Begusarai
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Sandip Kumar Gautam
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Parmanand Prasad
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 13-01-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned APP for the State.
2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his
arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under
Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the petitioner has antecedent of four cases under the Excise Act
and allegation is of recovery of 1304.4 litres of liquor from a
pick-up vehicle.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and is not the owner of
the seized vehicle and he came to be implicated based on
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confessional statement of apprehended accused in police
custody, which does not have any evidentiary value. It is next
submitted that police in majority of cases implicating innocent
persons either at the behest of Chaukidar, local person, secret
information and confessional statement in a mechanical manner
without holding proper investigation.
5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
6. 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-bonds in the
sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) 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 Jhandapur P. S. Case No.87 of 2025, subject to
the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. The application stands allowed.
8. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify
the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
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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 antecedent of four cases only, in that event,
the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed
forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
vikash/-
U T
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