Pramod Sahni v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.16549 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-119 Year-2025 Thana- PARSAUNI District- Sitamarhi ====================================================== Pramod Sahni Son of Late Hari Dayal Sahni Resident of VillageSundargama, P.S.- Parsauni, District- Sitamarhi ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Pushpendra Kumar Singh For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Madan Kumar ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 17-03-2026

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 317(5) of BNS, 2023 and Section 30(a) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2022.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has antecedent of three cases under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 75.600 litres of liquor from two motorcycles and from a place near a sugarcane field. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and is not owner of any of the seized vehicle nor the sugarcane field belongs to him and he came to be implicated based on

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.16549 of 2026(2) dt.17-03-2026 2/3 confessional statement of apprehended accused in police custody which does not have any evidentiary value. It is next submitted that after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with. 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 within a period of six weeks from today, be released on provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees fifteen thousand) 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 Parsauni P.S. Case No.119/2025, 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.16549 of 2026(2) dt.17-03-2026 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 three cases, 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 three cases, in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) amit/- U T