Patna High Court
Dukhan Bind @ Dukhan PrasadversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court allowed the anticipatory bail application, granting provisional bail subject to a bond, sureties, and verification of the petitioner’s antecedent.
Summary
Dukhan Bind, a resident of Begumpur Baghautpur, was implicated in a case under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act for the alleged recovery of 80 litres of liquor from a jointly owned family house. The petitioner, asserting a clean criminal record and arguing that the liquor was not in his conscious possession, applied for anticipatory bail. The State opposed the application. The High Court, considering the lack of direct possession, the amendment removing the concept of deemed possession, and the petitioner’s clean antecedent, granted provisional anticipatory bail subject to a bail bond of Rs.500 with two sureties and verification of his criminal record. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would be revoked; otherwise, it would be confirmed. The application for anticipatory bail was therefore allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted when the accused claims no conscious possession of liquor under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
- Whether the post‑2018 amendment eliminating the concept of deemed possession affects the presumption of guilt.
- Whether provisional anticipatory bail can be conditioned on verification of the petitioner’s criminal antecedent.
Legislation cited
- B.N.S.S. — s. 482(2)
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- Section 30
- Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act
- deemed possession
- clean antecedent
- provisional bail
- criminal procedure
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.9493 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-657 Year-2025 Thana- ARA NAGAR District- Bhojpur
======================================================
Dukhan Bind @ Dukhan Prasad son of Bala Bind @ Bala Ji Resident of
Village- Begumpur Baghautpur, Bind toli P.S. -Ara Town, District- Bhojpur
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Raju Kumar Singh, Advocate
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Dr. Kumar Uday Pratap, APP
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 23-02-2026 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 80 litres of liquor from house of the accused persons
including 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 petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the
liquor kept in the house was within his knowledge and after
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.9493 of 2026(2) dt.23-02-2026
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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 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 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
Judge Excise Court No.-I, Bhojpur at Ara in connection with
Ara Town P.S. Case No.657 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.9493 of 2026(2) dt.23-02-2026
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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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