Patna High Court
Abhishek Kumar @ BalakversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail was granted subject to bail bond conditions and verification of antecedents.
Summary
The petitioners, Abhishek Kumar and Krishna Murari, were implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018 for alleged recovery of 954.720 litres of liquor from a secret basement belonging to Rakesh Kumar. They argued that they were not arrested at the spot, had no possession, and were implicated solely on secret information, contending that the police had not conducted a proper investigation. They also highlighted their prior criminal records—five cases for petitioner 1 and eight for petitioner 2—and sought anticipatory bail to avoid arrest. The State opposed the bail. The High Court, after considering the submissions, granted provisional anticipatory bail conditioned on furnishing bail bonds of Rs 40,000 with two sureties each, and directed the trial court to verify the antecedents, with confirmation or cancellation of bail based on that verification. The order was made under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. and Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioners under Section 438 of the Criminal Procedure Code in a case under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.
- Whether the petitioners’ prior criminal antecedents affect the grant of anticipatory bail.
- Whether the alleged recovery of liquor from a location not owned by the petitioners justifies arrest.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- excise law
- Section 30
- criminal antecedent
- provisional bail
- Bihar
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.9022 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-380 Year-2025 Thana- Excise P.S. District- Samastipur
======================================================
1. Abhishek Kumar @ Balak S/o- Bhola Sahni Resident of village-
Sambhupatti, Police Station- Karpurigram, District-Samastipur.
2. Krishna Murari @ Murari Kumar S/o- Kameshwar Mahto @ Kameshwar
Singh Resident of village- Sambhupatti, Police Station - Karpurigram,
District-Samastipur.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Pramod Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Nitya Nand Tiwary, A.P.P.
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
3 16-03-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and
learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case
registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of the
Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioner no. 1 has antecedent of five cases under the Excise
Act and petitioner no. 2 has antecedent of eight cases out of
which two cases are under the Excise Act and allegation is of
recovery of 954.720 litres of liquor from a secret basement of
the courtyard of Rakesh Kumar.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that
petitioners were not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.9022 of 2026(3) dt.16-03-2026
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recovered from their conscious possession and even the alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the
petitioners and petitioners have no concern or relation with
Rakesh Kumar and they came to be implicated based on the
secret information which is the easiest way to implicated
someone. It is further submitted that once an accused is
implicated in a case relating to excise the police start
implicating mechanically either at the instance of the
Chawkidar, local person, secret information or confessional
statement without holding a proper investigation of the case.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for
anticipatory bail of the petitioners.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned
counsel for the petitioners, let the petitioners, above-named, in
the event of their arrest or surrender within a period of six
weeks from today, be released on provisional anticipatory bail
on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.40,000/- (Rupees Forty
Thousand) each 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 Excise Sadar P.S.
Case No. 380 of 2025, subject to the conditions as laid down
under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C./482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.9022 of 2026(3) dt.16-03-2026
3/3
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial
Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and
if it is found that petitioner no. 1 has antecedent of more than
five cases and petitioner no. 2 has antecedent of more than eight
cases, it would be presumed that petitioners had concealed their
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 no. 1 has antecedent of only five cases and petitioner
no. 2 has antecedent of only eight cases in that event the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Kundan/-
U T
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