Dhallu Mandal v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.84332 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-914 Year-2025 Thana- KATIHAR NAGAR District- Katihar ====================================================== Dhallu Mandal S/o- Late Ande Lal Mandal @ Master Saheb Resident of Village- Koriya Tola PS- Katihar Town, Dist- Katihar ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

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

Mr.Pronoti Singh ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 29-01-2026

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned APP for the State.

2. The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Section 30(a) of the Excise Act.

3. The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submits that by order dated 17.12.2025 the case diary was called for, but the same till date has not been received.

4. The Court will not wait endlessly for the case diary.

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and allegation is of recovery of 30 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner.

6. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.84332 of 2025(3) dt.29-01-2026 2/3 petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and even the house in question is a joint family property and thus, 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 and after Amendment in the Excise Act, 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with and he came to be implicated at the instance of local person, but the name of the person, who disclosed the name of the petitioner is not disclosed in the F.I.R., which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution.

7. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail application.

8. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner, above-named, in the event of his arrest or surrender before the learned Court below within a period of six weeks, is directed to be released on provisional anticipatory bail on his furnishing bail-bonds in the sum 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 Katihar Nagar P. S. Case No.914 of 2025, subject to the

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.84332 of 2025(3) dt.29-01-2026 3/3 conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.

9. The application stands allowed.

10.

It is made clear that the learned trial Court after accepting the provisional bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, then it would be presumed that petitioner for the purposes of obtaining anticipatory bail had concealed his antecedent before this Court, in that event, the present 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.

11.

At this stage, the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner based on instruction submits that petitioner undertakes to deposit an amount of Rs.1500/- with Advocates' Association, Patna High Court, Patna within a period of two weeks from today.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) vikash/- U T