Jagdish Kawariwala @ Krishna Devnath @ Bishnu Debnath @ Jagdish Kawarewala v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.31846 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-207 Year-2020 Thana- BAISI District- Purnia ====================================================== Jagdish Kawariwala @ Krishna Devnath @ Bishnu Debnath @ Jagdish Kawarewala S/o Narayan Devnath Yadav R/o Subhas Pally, Dalkhola, Baldoria, P.S.- Dalkhola, District- Uttar Dinajpur (West Bengal) ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr.Md Fazle Karim, Adv.
For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr.Nagendra Prasad, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRA PRAKASH SINGH ORAL ORDER 11-07-2025 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.
2. The Petitioner is apprehending his arrest in connection with Baisi P.S. Case No. 207 of 2020 dated 27.08.2020 for the offences punishable u/ss 272 and 273 of the Indian Penal Code and u/ss 30(a), 41 and 47 of the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act.
3. As per the prosecution case, total 2187 litres of illicit foreign liquor was recovered from a truck.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner has falsely been implicated in this case. The petitioner has two criminal antecedents as stated in para 3 of the bail petition. The petitioner is not named in the F.I.R. The name
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.31846 of 2025(2) dt.11-07-2025 2/3 of the petitioner has sprung up in the confessional statement of the co-accused, Murshid Alam. The petitioner is neither the owner nor the driver of the seized vehicle and he has no concern with the alleged recovery. Nothing has been recovered from the conscious possession of the petitioner, hence no case is made out. The co-accused person has already been granted anticipatory bail by this court vide order dated 12.12.2023 passed in Cr. Misc. No. 75593/2023. Learned Counsel has relied on the judgment of Full Bench of Hon'ble Patna High Court in the case of Ram Vinay Yadav vs. State of Bihar reported in 2019 (2) PLJR 1089. The Full Bench in the case of Ram Vinay Yadav (supra) has held that an application for anticipatory bail in a case arising out of Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act can be maintained, despite the bar under Section 76 (2) of the Act, if on the basis of allegation made in the FIR, no offence under the said provision is made out.
5. Learned A.P.P. for the State has vehemently opposed the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioner by submitting that the bar of Section 76(2) of the Act applies in this case.
6. Considering the aforesaid facts and circumstances of the case as well as the nature of allegation against the
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.31846 of 2025(2) dt.11-07-2025 3/3 petitioner, let the above named petitioner, in the event of his arrest/surrender within a period of six weeks from today, be enlarged on anticipatory bail on furnishing bail-bond of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees twenty thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned court concerned, Purnea in connection with Baisi P.S. Case No. 207 of 2020, subject to conditions as laid down under section 438(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure with further condition :- (i) The petitioner is directed to remain physically present before the learned Court below on each and every date, failing which on two consecutive dates without reasonable cause, the bail bond of the petitioner is liable to be cancelled.
7. The application stands allowed.
(Chandra Prakash Singh, J) Gautam/- U T