Sanjay Mandal v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.859 of 2026 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-378 Year-2025 Thana- SABAUR District- Bhagalpur ====================================================== Sanjay Mandal S/o- Late Button Mandal Resident of Village- Lailakh PSSabour, Dist- Bhagalpur ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

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

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Md. Nazir Ansari, APP ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 19-01-2026 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, 2022.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner has antecedents of four cases under the Excise Act and allegation is of recovery of 12 litres of liquor from house of the petitioner. 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 kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within his knowledge and he came to be

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.859 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026 2/3 implicated based on secret information, which is the easiest way to implicate someone. 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.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned District & Additional Sessions Judge-12-cum-Special Excise Judge-2, Bhagalpur in connection with Sabour P.S. Case No.378 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 bond of the petitioner shall verify

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.859 of 2026(2) dt.19-01-2026 3/3 the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and in the event, if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of more than four cases, 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 antecedents of only four cases, in that event, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

(Satyavrat Verma, J) Sanjay/- U T