Ajay Mandal Vs The State of Bihar — Anticipatory Bail | Patna HC (2026)

Ajay Mandal Vs The State of Bihar — Anticipatory Bail | Patna HC (2026)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

Prayer for bail allowed: petitioner to be enlarged on provisional bail upon arrest/surrender within eight weeks on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- with two like sureties before the learned JM Ist Class, Bhagalpur, subject to section 482 BNSS conditions and to deposits of Rs. 48,648/- at the bond stage and Rs. 2,00,000/- in 4 equal instalments within 1 year; provisional bail to be confirmed on compliance, cancellable on default.

Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner, apprehending arrest in Pirpainti Police Station Case No. 34 of 2023 registered for the offence punishable under section 135 of the Bihar Electricity Act, 2003 (alleged theft of energy causing revenue loss of Rs. 248648/-), should be enlarged on (provisional/anticipatory) bail, and if so, on what terms and conditions including monetary deposits.

Court's answer

Prayer for bail allowed: in the event of arrest/surrender within eight weeks, the petitioner is to be enlarged on provisional bail on furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- with two sureties of the like amount each, to the satisfaction of the learned JM Ist Class, Bhagalpur, in connection with Pirpainti Police Station Case No. 34 of 2023, subject to the conditions laid down under section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.

Ratio / Principle

Condition (i): at the time of furnishing the bail bond, the petitioner shall deposit Rs. 48,648/- in the office of the Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Division, South Bihar Power Distribution Co. Ltd., Pirpainti, District Bhagalpur.

Key takeaways

Condition (ii): the rest amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- shall be deposited by the petitioner in 4 equal instalments within 1 year from the date of furnishing the bail bonds.ratio¶25
Condition (iii): if the petitioner complies with the order, the provisional bail shall be confirmed by the court below itself.ratio¶26
Condition (iv): if the petitioner fails to comply with the order, the court below shall be at liberty to cancel the bail bonds of the petitioner.ratio

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bail – anticipatory/provisional bail – offence under section 135 of the Bihar Electricity Act, 2003 (theft of energy) – Patna High Court (Prabhat Kumar Singh, J.) allowed the prayer for bail of the petitioner apprehending arrest in Pirpainti P.S. Case No. 34 of 2023 (District Bhagalpur), wherein the F.I.R. alleged revenue loss of Rs. 248648/- to the Electric Supply Division, South Bihar Power Distribution Co. Ltd. Held/directed: on arrest or surrender within eight weeks, petitioner to be enlarged on provisional bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- with two like sureties to the satisfaction of the learned JM Ist Class, Bhagalpur, subject to section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and further conditions – Rs. 48,648/- to be deposited at the time of furnishing the bail bond; balance Rs. 2,00,000/- in 4 equal instalments within 1 year; on compliance, provisional bail to stand confirmed by the court below; on default, court below free to cancel the bail bonds. Order passed without entering into the merits and the deposit is subject to the final result of the criminal case.

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.83039 of 2025

Arising Out of PS. Case No.-34 Year-2023 Thana- PIRPAINTI District- Bhagalpur

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Ajay Mandal S/o Kisto Mandal Resident of Village- Govindpur Mohanpur, P.O - Mohanpur, PS- Pirpainti, Distt.- Bhagalpur

... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

1 . The State of Bihar

Arvind Kumar S/o Jagdish Rajak R/o vill- Mananpur Basti, P.O- Mananpur, P.S.Chanan, Distt.- Lakhisarai

... ... Opposite Party/s

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Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s : Mr. Chandra Shekhar Sharma, Advocate For the Opposite Party/s : Mr. Syed Mojibur Rahman, APP For OP 2 : Mr. Ajay Kumar Gautam , Advocate

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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRABHAT KUMAR SINGH

ORAL ORDER

2 05-01-2026

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, the State and opposite party no.2.

Petitioner apprehends arrest in a case registered for the offence punishable under section 135 of Bihar Electricity Act, 2003 .

As per F.I.R. petitioner is alleged to have caused revenue loss of Rs. 248648/- to the Electric Supply Division South Bihar Power Distribution Co. Ltd., Pirpainti, District- Bhagalpur by committing theft of energy .

Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner, without admitting his guilt and without prejudice to his right and contention, is ready to deposit Rs. 248648 /- in the office of Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Division, South Bihar Power Distribution Co. Ltd., Pirpainti Bhagalpur.

5 . Considering the aforesaid facts and other circumstances, prayer for bail of the petitioner is allowed. In the event of arrest/surrender within eight weeks from today, let the

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.83039 of 2025(2) dt.05-01-2026 2/2

petitioner, mentioned above, be enlarged on provisional bail on furnishing bail bond of Rs.10,000/- (ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned J M Ist Class, Bhagalpur in connection with Pirpainti Police Station Case No. 34 of 2023 , subject to the conditions laid down under section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 as well as on following conditions:-

(i) At the time of furnishing bail bond, Rs. 48,648/shall be deposited by the petitioner in the office of Assistant Electrical Engineer, Electric Supply Division, South Bihar Power Distribution Co. Ltd., Pirpainti District- Bhagalpur.

(ii) Rest amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- shall be deposited by the petitioner in 4 equal installments within 1 year from the date of furnishing bail bonds.

(iii) If the petitioner complies with the order, provisional bail shall be confirmed by the court below itself.

(iv) If the petitioner fails to comply with the order, court below shall be at liberty to cancel bail bonds of the petitioner.

It is made clear that without going into the merit of the case, aforesaid order has been passed only for the purpose of grant of bail and this deposit would be subject to the final result of the criminal case.

(Prabhat Kumar Singh, J)

Koushik/-