Gupteshwar Mehta @ Gupteshwar Prasad @ Gupteshwar Prasad Mehta v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.68393 of 2024 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-571 Year-2023 Thana- BARUN District- Aurangabad ====================================================== Gupteshwar Mehta @ Gupteshwar Prasad @ Gupteshwar Prasad Mehta Son of Late Judagi Mahto Resident of Vilalge- Sohar, P.S.- Barun, Distt.- Aurangabad ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Ms. Rupa Kumari, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad, A.P.P.

====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 21-09-2024

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr. Chandra Bhushan Prasad 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 the Bihar Prohibition and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2018.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has antecedent of one case.

4. Allegation is of recovery of 12.06 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with. It

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.68393 of 2024(2) dt.21-09-2024 2/3 is further submitted that the house in question is a joint family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was the petitioner who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within his knowledge. It is next submitted that petitioner came to be implicated based on the confessional statement of his wife in police custody which does not have any evidentiary value in the eye of law. It is also submitted that wife of the petitioner was coerced to implicate the petitioner.

6. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioner.

7. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, let the petitioner above-named, in the event of his arrest or surrender before the learned Court below within a period of six weeks from today, be released on anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned court below where the case is pending/successor court in connection with Barun P.S. Case No. 571 of 2023, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Cr.P.C.

8. However, the learned trial court, before accepting the bail bonds of the petitioner, shall verify the criminal

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.68393 of 2024(2) dt.21-09-2024 3/3 antecedent of the petitioner and if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than one case in that event the present anticipatory bail order shall not be given effect to. (Satyavrat Verma, J) Kundan/- U T