Santosh Kumar Manjhi @ Santosh Manjhi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.17491 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-293 Year-2025 Thana- NAUTAN District- Siwan ====================================================== Santosh Kumar Manjhi @ Santosh Manjhi Son of Sri Ram Manjhi R/o Baroha, Hasua, P.S. - Nautan, Dist.- Siwan.

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Chandra Shekhar For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Suresh Prasad Singh ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 19-03-2026

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 30(a) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of recovery of 486 litres of liquor from bushes and bamboo orchard near Pacs godown. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and even alleged recovery is from a place which does not belong to the petitioner and is accessible to public at large and he came to be implicated at the instance of chowkidar with whom he is on an inimical term. It is

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.17491 of 2026(2) dt.19-03-2026 2/3 also submitted that if chowkidar was aware of the involvement of the petitioner in the occurrence then why he did not inform the police prior to institution of the instant FIR which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution. It is next submitted that chowkidar in order to save the real culprit falsely implicated the petitioner, 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 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 Nautan P.S. Case No.293/2025, 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 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

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.17491 of 2026(2) dt.19-03-2026 3/3 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.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) amit/- U T