Chhotelal Paswan Vs The State of Bihar — Anticipatory Bail | Patna HC (2026)

Chhotelal Paswan Vs The State of Bihar — Anticipatory Bail | Patna HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Application stands allowed; provisional anticipatory bail ordered on arrest or surrender within six weeks, upon bail-bonds of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each, subject to Section 438(2) Cr.P.C. conditions, with confirmation dependent on trial Court verification of the petitioner's criminal antecedents (not confirmed if more than two cases; confirmed forthwith if two cases only).

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner should be granted bail in anticipation of arrest in connection with Kotwa P.S. Case No.350 of 2025, registered under Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1) of the Excise Act, in view of the alleged recovery of 40 litres of liquor from his house and his stated antecedent of two Excise Act cases. +1 more

Court's answer

Provisional anticipatory bail granted: in the event of arrest or surrender before the learned Court below within a period of six weeks, the petitioner is directed to be released on furnishing bail-bonds of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) 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 Kotwa P.S. Case No.350 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.

Ratio / Principle

Confirmation of the provisional order is made conditional on antecedent verification: the learned trial Court, after accepting the provisional bail bonds, shall verify the petitioner's criminal antecedent; if it is found he has antecedent of more than two cases, it would be presumed he concealed his antecedents before this Court and the provisional order shall not be confirmed; if two cases only, the provisional order shall be confirmed forthwith.

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Anticipatory bail granted provisionally by the Patna High Court (single judge, Satyavrat Verma, J.) in an Excise Act matter — Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1) of the Excise Act, Kotwa P.S. Case No.350 of 2025, East Champaran — notwithstanding the petitioner's stated antecedent of two Excise Act cases and the allegation of recovery of 40 litres of liquor from his house (argued to be joint family property, with implication attributed to a Chaukidar on inimical terms). On arrest or surrender within six weeks, the petitioner is to be released on a bail-bond of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each, subject to Section 438(2) Cr.P.C. conditions. Confirmation of the provisional order is deferred to the trial Court's verification of criminal antecedents after acceptance of the bail bonds: if more than two cases are found, concealment is to be presumed and the order not confirmed; if two cases only, it is to be confirmed forthwith. The petitioner undertook to deposit Rs.5,000/- with the Lawyers’ Association, Patna High Court. No precedent is cited; the application stands allowed.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.2151 of 2026

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-350 Year-2025 Thana- KOTWA District- East Champaran

======================================================

Chhotelal Paswan Son of Late Ram Haran Paswan @ Ramrahan Paswan Resident of Village- Kotwa, P.S.- Kotwa, District- East Champaran

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar

... ... Opposite Party/s

====================================================== Appearance : For the Petitioner/s : Mr.Shanti Bhushan Singh For the Opposite Party/s : Mr.Arun Kumar ======================================================

CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER

2 27-01-2026

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

The petitioner seeks bail in anticipation of his arrest in a case registered for the offences punishable under Sections 30(a), 32 and 41(1) of the Excise Act.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner has antecedent of two cases under the Excise Act as would manifest from the supplementary affidavit and allegation is of recovery of 40 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner.

The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that 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

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2151 of 2026(2) dt.27-01-2026 2/3

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 he came to be implicated at the instance of Chaukidar with whom he is on an inimical term. It is further submitted that if Chaukidar was aware of the involvement of the petitioners in the occurrence, then why he did not inform the police prior to institution of the present F.I.R., which casts an aspersion on the case of the prosecution.

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

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.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand) 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 Kotwa P. S. Case No.350 of 2025, subject to the conditions laid down under Section 438(2) of the Cr.P.C.

The application stands allowed.

It is made clear that the learned trial Court after

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.2151 of 2026(2) dt.27-01-2026 3/3

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 two 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 antecedent of two cases only, in that event, the provisional anticipatory bail order shall be confirmed forthwith.

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.5,000/- with Lawyers’ Association, Patna High Court, Patna.

(Satyavrat Verma, J)

vikash/-

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