Patna High Court
Lawkush Kumar @ Lawkush YadavversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- BAIL REJECTED
- Bench
- ANIL KUMAR SINHA
Holding
The court declined to grant anticipatory bail, finding a prima facie case against the petitioner under the Arms Act.
Summary
The petitioner, Lawkush Kumar, sought anticipatory bail after being implicated in a case under Sections 25(1‑b)(a), 26, 35 and 29 of the Arms Act for allegedly concealing illegal firearms in his family house. The FIR arose from a police raid prompted by a tip that his relative, Hridaya Yadav, was hiding weapons, during which a pistol and other arms were recovered and a photograph circulating on Facebook was said to show the petitioner with a rifle. The petitioner argued that he was falsely implicated because of his familial link, that no weapon was found in his possession, and that the photograph was fabricated, also emphasizing his clean record. The State contended that the FIR and the viral photograph provided a specific prima facie allegation against him, justifying denial of bail. After reviewing the materials, the court held that a prima facie case existed, the risk to public safety warranted denial of anticipatory bail, and consequently dismissed the petitioner's application.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail can be granted when a prima facie case under the Arms Act is established.
- Whether identification of the accused through a social‑media photograph suffices to sustain the charge.
- Whether the petitioner’s lack of prior criminal record and claim of no direct possession of arms affect the bail decision.
Legislation cited
- Arms Act — s. 25(1-b)(a), 26, 29, 35
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Arms Act
- illegal firearms
- social media identification
- prima facie case
- public safety
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.9297 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-348 Year-2025 Thana- RAMGARHWA District- East
Champaran
======================================================
Lawkush Kumar @ Lawkush Yadav S/o Ramjee Yadav Resident of village -
Binwaliya, P.S- Ramgarhwa, Distt.- East Champaran
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Abhishek Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Sanjay Kumar Tiwary
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR SINHA
ORAL ORDER
2 26-02-2026 1. Heard learned Counsel for the petitioner and
learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.
2. This application, for grant of anticipatory bail,
arises out of Ramgarhwa P.S. Case No. 348 of 2025, disclosing
offences punishable under Sections 25(1-b)(a), 26, 35 and 29 of
the Arms Act.
3. That the prosecution case, as per in the First
Information Report, is that on 07.09.2025 the informant
received secret information that co-accused Hridaya Yadav of
Village Binwalia had concealed illegal firearms in his house,
which could allegedly be used during the forthcoming Assembly
elections or in some major incident. Acting upon the said
information, the police party proceeded to Village Binwalia and
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surrounded the house of the said co-accused. On seeing the
police personnel, co-accused Hridaya Yadav fled from the place
of occurrence, while Lalmunni Devi was apprehended when she
attempted to escape. During search of the premises, the police
have recovered one country-made pistol with magazine without
cartridges, two additional magazines without cartridges, one 12
bore country-made pistol and one 12 bore single barrel gun from
inside the house. During interrogation, Lalmunni Devi allegedly
identified a photograph circulating on Facebook as that of her
son, the present petitioner, namely Lavkush Yadav, and further
stated that the 12 bore barrel gun recovered from the "Machan"
(scaffolding) had been concealed by him. Thereafter, all the
recovered arms were seized and a seizure list was prepared
accordingly.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated merely
because he happens to be the nephew of co-accused Hridya
Yadav. He next submits that nothing has been recovered from
the conscious possession of the petitioner and the house in
question is a joint family property where other family members
also reside. He next submits that the allegation regarding the
photograph with a rifle being uploaded on Facebook is false and
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manipulated and the said fake photograph was uploaded by
someone else. He further submits that the petitioner is having no
criminal antecedent.
5. On the other hand, learned counsel for the State
vehemently opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail and submits
that prima facie there is specific allegation against the petitioner,
which would be evident from the viral photograph and FIR
itself.
6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and
have gone through the materials available on record, including
the impugned order.
7. From perusal of the impugned order, it appears that
the learned Sessions Judge, East Champaran at Motihari, after
taking note of paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 7 and 42 of the case diary and
considering the nature and gravity of the allegations against the
petitioner, rejected the prayer for anticipatory bail.
8. Further, from the FIR it transpires that the
petitioner was identified in the viral photograph by his mother,
who was apprehended during the course of the raid, and it has
been stated by his mother that the firearm recovered from the
Machan was concealed by the petitioner. Possession of illegal
arms is dangerous and illegal. It poses a serious risk to
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public safety. There appears to be prima facie case against the
petitioner, accordingly, I am not inclined to grant the petitioner
privilege of anticipatory bail.
9. This application is, accordingly, dismissed
(Anil Kumar Sinha, J)
HarshPandey/-
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