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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.3482 of 2026

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-130 Year-2010 Thana- GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL COMP.

District- Nalanda

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Baljit Chaudhary S/o Ramashish Chaudhary R/o Village - Lakhnu Bigha, P.S

- Asthawan, District - Nalanda

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar

... ... Opposite Party/s

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Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Pramod Kumar Sinha

For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Khurshid Anwar

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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA

ORAL ORDER

2 29-01-2026 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 47A and F

of the Bihar Excise Act 1915 read with Section 98(2)(3)(4) and

Sections 30(a) of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Amendment

Act 2018.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the

petitioner has antecedent of two cases under the Excise Act and

allegation is of recovery of 30 litres of liquor along with 150

litres fermented chhoba from 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

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.3482 of 2026(2) dt.29-01-2026

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recovered from his conscious possession and after 2018

amendment in the Excise Act, the concept of deemed possession

and presumed offender has been done away with. It is next

submitted that 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 knowledge of the petitioner. It is further

submitted that he came to be implicated based on secret

information which is the easiest way to implicate someone

without holding a proper investigation. It is further submitted

that once an accused is implicated in a case relating to excise,

the police starts implicating mechanically either at the instance

of Chowkidar, local person, confessional statement or secret

information without holding a proper investigation.

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 before the learned trial court within a

period of six weeks from today, be released on Provisional

anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees

Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the

satisfaction of the learned trial court where the case is

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.3482 of 2026(2) dt.29-01-2026

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pending/successor court in connection with Excise P.S. Case No.

130C3Ex of 2010 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 more than two

cases 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 has

antecedent of two cases in that event the provisional anticipatory

bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

8. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner

based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit

an amount of Rs. 5,000/- with Lawyers’ Association, Patna High

Court within a period of two weeks from today.

(Satyavrat Verma, J)

Sumit/-

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