Patna High Court
Umesh Mandal @ Umesh KumarversusThe State of Bihar
- Decided
- Disposal
- DISPOSED
- Bench
- SATYAVRAT VERMA
Holding
The Court granted provisional anticipatory bail to the petitioner subject to conditions and verification of his antecedent.
Summary
The petitioner, Umesh Mandal, sought anticipatory bail in a case registered under IPC sections 272, 273, 279, 427, 379, 34 and Excise Act section 30(a) for allegedly recovering 6.5 litres of liquor from a vehicle. He argued that he has a clean antecedent, was not arrested at the spot, did not have the liquor in his conscious possession, is not the owner of the seized vehicle, and was not named in the FIR. The State opposed the bail, contending the seriousness of the offences. The Court, after considering the submissions, directed that the petitioner be released on provisional anticipatory bail upon furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500 with two sureties, subject to the conditions of Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C. and verification of his criminal antecedent. The order stipulated that if any antecedent is discovered, the bail would be cancelled; otherwise, it would be confirmed. The application was allowed.
Issues considered
- Whether anticipatory bail should be granted to the petitioner despite the serious nature of the offences alleged.
- Whether the petitioner poses a risk of fleeing, tampering with evidence, or influencing witnesses.
- Whether the petitioner’s claim of a clean antecedent and lack of direct involvement warrants bail.
Legislation cited
- Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — s. 438(2)
- Excise Act — s. 30(a)
- Indian Penal Code — s. 272, 273, 279, 34, 379, 427
Subjects
- anticipatory bail
- IPC
- Excise Act
- liquor seizure
- provisional bail
- clean antecedent
- Section 438 Cr.P.C.
Judgment
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.9769 of 2026
Arising Out of PS. Case No.-252 Year-2019 Thana- JOKIHAT District- Araria
======================================================
Umesh Mandal @ Umesh Kumar S/o Late PUran Lal Mandal Resident of
Village- Khirdaha, P.S.- Jokihat, District- Araria
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar
... ... Opposite Party/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Gopal Kumar Jha
For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Shahabuddin Azeem @ S. Azeem
======================================================
CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA
ORAL ORDER
2 15-04-2026 1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and
learned APP for the State.
2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his
arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under
Section 272, 273, 279, 427, 379, 34 of the I.P.C. and Section
30(a) of the Excise Act.
3. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is
of recovery of 6.5 litres of liquor from a car.
4. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that
petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was
recovered from his conscious possession and is not the owner of
the seized vehicle and petitioner was not named in the FIR and
during the course of investigation, Vivek Kumar Singh was
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.9769 of 2026(2) dt.15-04-2026
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arrested, but it is submitted that Vivek has not disclosed the
name of the petitioner and he came to be implicated on the
ground that he had fled with the liquor.
5. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail
application.
6. 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-bonds in the
sum 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
Jokihat P. S. Case No.252 of 2019, subject to the conditions laid
down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.
7. The application stands allowed.
8. It is made clear that the learned trial Court after
accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner 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 obtaining
anticipatory bail had concealed his antecedent before this Court,
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.9769 of 2026(2) dt.15-04-2026
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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)
vikash/-
U T
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