Patna High Court
Bhola Sah @ Sujeet KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner, subject to verification of his antecedents and compliance with the conditions imposed.
Summary
The petitioner, Bhola Sah, was implicated in a case under Sections 30(a) and 41(1) of the Bihar Excise Act for allegedly possessing 53.46 litres of liquor recovered from a location adjacent to his house. He argued that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, that the site did not belong to him, and that the informant (the chowkidar) failed to alert police earlier, casting doubt on the prosecution’s case. The State opposed his request for anticipatory bail. The High Court, after considering the petitioner's clean antecedent and the circumstances of the alleged recovery, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs. 500 with two sureties and directed the trial court to verify his criminal record. If any antecedent is discovered, the bail would be cancelled; otherwise, it would be confirmed. The order was made under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
Issues considered
- Whether the petitioner is entitled to anticipatory bail under Section 482(2) of the BNSS in a case under Sections 30(a) and 41(1) of the Bihar Excise Act
- Whether the alleged recovery of liquor constitutes sufficient grounds for arrest and denial of bail
Legislation cited
- BNSS — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Bihar Excise Act
- Section 482
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- criminal procedure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.9483 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-435 Year-2025 Thana- MOTIPUR District- Muzaffarpur
======================================================
Bhola Sah @ Sujeet Kumar son of Arun Sah Resident of village- Mahna @
Sandha, Jahangirpur, Ps- Motipur Dist- Muzaffarpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Arvind Kumar
For the Opposite Party/s : Ms.Asha Devi
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 23-02-2026 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 30(a) and
41(1) of the Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of
recovery of 53.46 litres of liquor from a place behind the house
of the petitioner.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the
petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and even the alleged
recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner
but then is adjacent to his house and he came to be implicated at
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the instance of Chowkidar but then it is submitted that if the
Chowkidar was aware about 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.
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, the petitioner above-named, in the
event of his arrest or surrender 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 Motipur P.S. Case No. 435 of 2025, subject to
the conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court
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
seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed his antecedent before this
Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be
confirmed, but after verification if it is found that petitioner is a
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person with clean antecedent in that event the provisional
anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J)
Sumit/-
U T
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