Patna High Court
Sunil KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedent and compliance with conditions under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Summary
The petitioner, Sunil Kumar, sought anticipatory bail in a case registered under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act for alleged recovery of 60 litres of liquor from a third party's orchard. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, was not arrested at the spot, and had no possession of the liquor, contending that the complainant (the chowkidar) failed to inform police earlier, casting doubt on the prosecution's case. The State opposed the bail, asserting that the allegations warranted detention. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties and directed verification of the petitioner's criminal antecedent. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would not be confirmed, but if the petitioner is found clean, the bail would be confirmed forthwith.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
- Whether the petitioner’s clean antecedent and lack of possession justify granting anticipatory bail.
- Whether the High Court may impose conditions under Section 482(2) of the BNSS while granting provisional anticipatory bail.
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- Section 482(2)
- clean antecedent
- high court order
- provisional bail
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.89681 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-211 Year-2025 Thana- MEHANDIA District- Jehanabad
======================================================
Sunil Kumar S/O Jagan Mahto @ Jagan Singh Resident Of Village-
Sarwarpur, P.S- Mahediya, Distt.- Arwal.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Nityanand Neeraj
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Lakshmi Kant Sharma
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 21-01-2026 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 offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 60 litres of liquor from the orchard of Awadhesh
Mehta.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and even the alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner
and petitioner has no concern or relation with Awadhesh and he
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came to be implicated at the instance of Chowkidar but then it is
submitted that if the Chowkidar was aware about the
involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence, then why he did
not inform the police prior to institution of the instant FIR,
which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioner.
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 trial court
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
Mehandiya P.S. Case No. 211 of 2025, subject to the conditions
as laid down under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court
shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the
event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case
then it would be presumed that petitioner, for the purposes of
seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his antecedent before this
Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
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confirmed, but after verification if 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)
Sumit/-
U T
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