Sanni Kumar Ray v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.5882 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-422 Year-2025 Thana- BIBHUTIPUR District- Samastipur ====================================================== SANNI KUMAR RAY S/o Dilip Ray Resident of Ward no. 07, Belsandi Tara, P.S.- Bibhutipur, Dist-Samastipur, Bihar.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Keshav Bhardwaj For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Zainul Abedin ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 03-02-2026

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 offence punishable under Section 30(a) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 22.5 litres of liquor from 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 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.5882 of 2026(2) dt.03-02-2026 2/3 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 based on confessional statement of Mukesh in police custody which does not have any evidentiary value. It is also submitted that once an accused is implicated in a case relating to excise, the police starts implicating mechanically either through chowkidar, local person, confessional statement or secret information without holding a proper investigation.

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.5000/- (Rupees five thousands) 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 Bibhutipur P.S. Case No.422/2025, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.

6. It is made clear that the learned trial court thereafter

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.5882 of 2026(2) dt.03-02-2026 3/3 shall verify the criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than 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 has antecedent of one case, 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.2500/- with Advocates' Association, Patna High Court within a period of two weeks from today. (Satyavrat Verma, J) amit/- U T