Gautam Kumar v. The State Of Bihar Through The Superintendent Of Police, Special Vigilance Unit,
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.13122 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-2 Year-2026 Thana- VIGILANCE District- Patna ====================================================== Gautam Kumar S/o Shri Devendra Singh Resident of vill- Damodarpur, P.O.- Chamarbigha, P.S- Hilsa, Distt.- Nalanda, Presently posted as Junior Engineer, Electric supply section, Sahebganj, Muzaffarpur, West ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar through the Superintendent of Police, Special Vigilance Unit, Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. N. K. Agrawal, Sr. Advocate Mr. Rabindra Kr. Ravi, Mr. Amit Kumar Anand, Mr. Hira Sharma, Ms. Bharti Kumari, Advocates For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr. Arvind Kumar, A.P.P.
====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRABHAT KUMAR SINGH ORAL ORDER 14-07-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the State.
2. Petitioner apprehends arrest in Special Vigilance Unit P. S. Case No. 02 of 2026 registered for the offences punishable under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
3. As per the prosecution case, this petitioner, who was Junior Engineer in the Electric Supply Section of Sahebganj, along with other co-accused persons, demanded bribe of Rs. 12,000/- for re-connection of electricity and installation of new meter of the informant. A vigilance trap was laid consisting 9 police personnel having In-charge, one Mr. Love Kumar and DSP wherein, co-accused Munchun Ram,
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.13122 of 2026(5) dt.14-07-2026 2/3 Chandeshwar Kumar and Nishant Kumar were caught redhanded, accepting bribe of Rs. 5,000/-.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is innocent and has committed no offence. As a matter of fact, informant has lodged this false and concocted case before Special Vigilance Unit, Patna, Bihar as he himself was a named accused of Sahebganj P. S. Case No. 550 of 2022, instituted on 26.11.2022 for the offence under Section 135 of the Electricity Act which was lodged by the petitioner. In the said case, informant of present case was accused no. 1 against whom Rs. 44,078/- was due and Rs. 12,434/- was imposed as fine for theft of electricity. It is further submitted that three accused persons who were arrested by the vigilance team were neither the regular employee of the company nor the daily wagers or contractual, rather their respective services were being taken by the N.B.P.D. Co. Ltd purely and only on commission basis, who used to collect amount from the defaulter consumers. Petitioner has got no concern with the alleged offence and claims clean antecedent.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State vehemently opposed the bail application and submitted that petitioner is named in the F.I.R. with specific accusation that he demanded bribe for re-
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.13122 of 2026(5) dt.14-07-2026 3/3 connection of electricity from the informant. He further submits that co-accused persons who were caught red-handed accepting the bribe admitted that the said amount was received on behalf of this petitioner and materials collected during investigation clearly substantiate the allegation.
6. Considering the fact that there is no strict proof of demand and acceptance of bribe by the petitioner and clean antecedent, this anticipatory bail is allowed and it is ordered that let the above named petitioner in the event of his arrest/surrender before the court below within a period of eight weeks from today, be enlarged on bail on furnishing bail-bond of Rs. 10,000/- (ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned Special Judge, Vigilance (S.U.V.), Patna in connection with Special Vigilance Unit P. S. Case No. 02 of 2026, subject to condition as laid down under Section 482(2) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
(Prabhat Kumar Singh, J) Navya/- U T