Patna High Court
Radhakant Ray @ Radha Kant RoyversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
Provisional anticipatory bail is granted subject to a bail bond, sureties and verification of antecedent, with confirmation or revocation based on that verification.
Summary
The petitioner, Radhakant Ray, feared arrest in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for alleged recovery of six litres of liquor from his kiosk. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession and that a customer, not the petitioner, had concealed it, making the FIR incomplete. The State opposed the anticipatory bail application. The High Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs.5,000 with two sureties, subject to conditions under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S. The order is conditional on verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent; if more than one prior case is found, the bail may be withdrawn, otherwise it will be confirmed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner under the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, Section 30(a).
- Whether the petitioner’s prior criminal antecedent precludes the grant of anticipatory bail.
- Whether the circumstances of the alleged liquor recovery justify denial of bail.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- Section 30(a)
- criminal antecedent
- provisional bail
- bail bond
- excise offence
- liquor seizure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.927 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-441 Year-2025 Thana- BABUBARHI District- Madhubani
======================================================
Radhakant Ray @ Radha Kant Roy S/o Yogendra Ray R/o Village -
Dhamaura, P.S - Babubarhi, District - Madhubani
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Bhavesh Kumar Sah, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Parmanand Prasad, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 19-01-2026 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 has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and
allegation is of recovery of 6 litres of liquor from Kiosk. It is
next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as
such, nothing was recovered from his conscious possession. It is
further submitted that no doubt Kiosk belongs to the petitioner
but then the petitioner does his business from the Kiosk and no
prudent person would use his own Kiosk for committing an
occurrence and thus, would create evidence against himself and
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.927 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026
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hence, would get implicated. It is also submitted that it appears
that some customer fearing the police concealed meagre amount
of liquor in the Kiosk in absence of the petitioner and the
petitioner came to be implicated at the instance of local person
but then name of the person, who disclosed the name of the
petitioner, is not disclosed in the FIR, which casts an aspersion
on the case of the prosecution.
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.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) with two sureties of
the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Exclusive
Special Judge, Excise Act, Madhubani in connection with
Babubarhi P.S. Case No.441 of 2025, subject to the conditions
laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
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
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.927 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026
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the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is
found that petitioner has antecedent of more than 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 has antecedent of only one case, in that event, the
provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sanjay/-
U T
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