Bhola Uraon @ Bhola Uran v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.368 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-132 Year-2025 Thana- Pothia District- Katihar ====================================================== Bhola Uraon @ Bhola Uran Son of Sohar Uranv @ Sohare Uraon Resident of Village - Dumar Aadiwaisi Tola, P.O. - Dumar, P.S. - Pothia, District - Katihar.
... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Umesh Prasad, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :
Mr. Dr. Kumar Uday Pratap, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 15-01-2026 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned APP for the State.
2. 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 has antecedent of one case under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 40 litres of liquor from house of the petitioner and 45 litres of liquor from house of Manoj Uraon. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot, as such, nothing was recovered from his conscious possession and the house in question is a joint family property, as such, it cannot be alleged with certainty that it was petitioner who had
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.368 of 2026(2) dt.15-01-2026 2/3 kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within his knowledge and after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with and he came to be implicated at the instance of Chowkidar but then it is 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 also submitted that once an accused is implicated in a case relating to excise, the police starts implicating mechanically either at the instance of Chowkidar, local person, confessional statement or secret information without holding a proper investigation.
4. Learned A.P.P. opposes the anticipatory bail application.
5. 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-bond in the sum of Rs.5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned District and
Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.368 of 2026(2) dt.15-01-2026 3/3 Additional Sessions Judge Exclusive Special Excise Court-II, Katihar in connection with Pothia P.S. Case No.132 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 482(2) of the B.N.S.S.
6. The application stands allowed.
7. 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 more than 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 has antecedent of only one case, in that event, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith. (Satyavrat Verma, J) Sanjay/- U T