Patna High Court
Jaspreet SinghversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his criminal antecedent.
Summary
Jaspreet Singh, the owner of a vehicle from which 3,438 litres of liquor were seized, was charged under several IPC provisions (188, 420, 467, 468, 471/34) and the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act (30(a), 32(i)(ii), 41). He applied for anticipatory bail, claiming a clean antecedent and that he was unaware of the misuse of his vehicle by Lakhvinder Singh, who was arrested at the spot. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and conditioned the order on verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent by the trial court. If any antecedent is found, the bail may be revoked; if none, the bail will be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. given the nature of the offences and his alleged clean antecedent.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Indian Penal Code — s. 188, 420, 467, 468, 471/34
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- liquor seizure
- vehicle ownership
- criminal antecedent
- IPC
- Bihar Prohibition Act
- CrPC
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.89708 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-198 Year-2023 Thana- MAHESHKHUNT District- Khagaria
======================================================
Jaspreet Singh S/o Sardool Singh, Resident of Village- Mandaur Tehsil, P.S.-
Malko Majra, District- Fatehgarh Sahib, State- Punjab (India)
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Amar Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Nityanand, A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 05-01-2026 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 Sections 188, 420,
467, 468 and 471/34 of the Indian Penal Code as well as
Sections 30(a), 32(i)(ii) and 41 of the Bihar Prohibition and
Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 3438 litres of liquor from a truck.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession. It is further submitted
that petitioner came to be implicated based on the fact that he is
owner of the seized vehicle. It is next submitted that no prudent
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person would use his own vehicle for committing an occurrence
and thus would create evidence against himself and hence
would get implicated and at the same time shall bring disrepute
to his business. It is also submitted that petitioner was
completely unaware that Lakhvinder Singh would misuse the
vehicle in the manner as alleged who was also apprehended
from the spot.
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, let 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
Maheshkhunt P.S. Case No. 198 of 2023, subject to the
conditions as laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned trial
court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if
it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, it
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would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his antecedent
before this Court at para 3 of the anticipatory bail application in
that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
confirmed but if it is found on verification that petitioner is a
person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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