Subodh Sah @ Subodh v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.20173 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-131 Year-2026 Thana- AHIYAPUR District- Muzaffarpur ====================================================== 1.
Subodh Sah @ Subodh S/O Sakindra Sah Resident of village- Berai, P.SHathauri, Dist.- Muzaffarpur. 2.
Santosh Sah @ Santosh Kumar S/O Mohan Sah Resident of village- Berai, P.S- Hathauri, Dist.- Muzaffarpur.
3.
Sanjeev Kumar @ Sanjeet Kumar @ Sanjeev Pandit S/O Shankar Pandit Resident of village- Berai, P.S- Hathauri, Dist.- Muzaffarpur. ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Anuj Kumar Shrivastav For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr. Shaheen Begum ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 31-03-2026
1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned A.P.P. for the State.
2. The petitioners apprehend their arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Bihar Excise Act.
3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that petitioners are persons with clean antecedent and allegation is of recovery of 240.63 liters of liquor from two Autos.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that petitioners were not apprehended from the spot as such nothing was recovered from their conscious possession and are not the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20173 of 2026(2) dt.31-03-2026 2/3 owner of the seized vehicle and they came to be implicated based on confessional statement of Raghvendra 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.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioners.
6. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioners, the petitioners above-named, in the event of their arrest or surrender before the learned Trial Court within a period of six weeks from today, be released on Provisional anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs. 500/- (Rupees Five Hundred) each 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 Ahiyapur (Garha O.P.) P.S. Case No. 131 of 2026 subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 482 (2) of the BNSS.
7. It is made clear that thereafter the learned Trial Court shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioners and in the event if it is found that any of the petitioners have antecedent of even one case then it would be presumed that
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.20173 of 2026(2) dt.31-03-2026 3/3 petitioners, for the purposes of seeking anticipatory bail, had concealed their antecedent before this Court, as such, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall not be confirmed with respect to the petitioner who had concealed his antecedent, but after verification if it is found that petitioners are persons with clean antecedent in that event the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.
(Satyavrat Verma, J) Rishabh/- U T