Nandlal Manjhi @ Nandlal Mahto v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.4803 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-387 Year-2025 Thana- ADAPUR District- East Champaran ====================================================== Nandlal Manjhi @ Nandlal Mahto Son of Late Lakshandeo Mahto @ Lakshandeo Manjhi Resident of Village- Barwadih Dhangar Toli, P.S.- Adapur, District- 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. Gauri Shankar Gupta ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 31-01-2026

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 offence punishable under Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2016.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of recovery of 100 litres of liquor, out of which 50 litres of liquor is alleged to have been recovered from the house of 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

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4803 of 2026(2) dt.31-01-2026 2/3 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 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 and chowkidar but then it is submitted that if local person or chowkidar were aware of the involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence then why they did not inform the police prior to institution of the instant 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. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioner.

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 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 Adapur P.S. Case No.387/2025, subject to the conditions as laid down

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.4803 of 2026(2) dt.31-01-2026 3/3 under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.

6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, in that event, it would be presumed that petitioner had concealed his antecedent before this court, as such, the 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.

7. At this stage, the learned counsel for the petitioner based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit an amount of Rs.1500/- with Advocates' Association, Patna High Court within a period of two weeks from today. (Satyavrat Verma, J) amit/- U T