Patna High Court
Shatrughan ManjhiversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The High Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to bond, sureties and verification of his antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Shatrughan Manjhi, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act after 130 litres of liquor were allegedly recovered from his joint‑family house. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, the property was jointly owned, and he had a clean criminal record. The State opposed the anticipatory bail application. The Court noted that the 2018 amendment to the Excise Act had done away with the concept of deemed possession and that the informant (chowkidar) had not reported the petitioner earlier, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case. Accordingly, the Court granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a Rs.500 bond, two sureties, and verification of the petitioner’s antecedent, with the order to be confirmed if he is found to have a clean record.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Whether the alleged recovery of liquor from a joint‑family house establishes possession sufficient to deny bail
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 30(a)
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- joint family property
- clean antecedent
- Section 482 CrPC
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.89802 of 2025
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-227 Year-2025 Thana- Gadhiya Bazar District- East Champaran
======================================================
Shatrughan Manjhi S/O Jaikishun Manjhi R/O Village- Koilwara Musahari
Tola, P.S- Gadahiya Bajar, Distt.- East Champaran.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Abhishek Kumar, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Sanjay Kumar, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 21-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned
APP for the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends his arrest in a case registered
for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of 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 237.5 litres of liquor from house of five accused
persons including the petitioner out of which 130 litres of liquor
is alleged to have been recovered 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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.89802 of 2025(3) dt.21-01-2026
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petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept
in the 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 Chowkidar but then
it is submitted that if Chowkidar was aware of 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, when petitioner
admittedly is a person with clean antecedent.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
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, is directed to be released on
provisional anticipatory bail on his furnishing bail-bond in the
sum of Rs.500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) with two sureties of the
like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive Special
Excise Court No.-3, Motihari, East Champaran in connection
with Gadahiya Bajar P.S. Case No.227 of 2025, subject to the
conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.89802 of 2025(3) dt.21-01-2026
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6. The application stands allowed.
7. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bond of the petitioner 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 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 is a person 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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