Chhattisgarh HC Rejects Anticipatory Bail To Motorcycle Owner In 45-Litre Liquor Case, Citing Excise Act Bar And Similar Antecedent

The applicant filed a second application under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking anticipatory bail in Crime No. 251/2026, registered for an alleged offence under Section 34(2) of the Chhattisgarh Excise Act.

Police allegedly found a motorcycle registered to the applicant and 45 litres of liquor at the reported location after a person fled on seeing the police; the applicant was implicated following verification of the vehicle’s ownership.

The applicant denied involvement, while the State relied on an alleged similar criminal antecedent and opposed bail.

The application was brought under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which the Court identified as the provision invoked for anticipatory bail.

The alleged offence was under Section 34(2) of the Excise Act.

The Court referred to a bar under the Excise Act as relevant to the maintainability of anticipatory bail, but did not identify the specific provision or elaborate on its legal test.

The Court considered the allegations, including the recovery of liquor near a motorcycle registered to the applicant, the applicant’s alleged similar criminal antecedent, and the bar under the Excise Act.

On the entirety of those circumstances, it concluded that the anticipatory bail application was not maintainable.

The order does not separately explain the legal basis or effect of the statutory bar.

The Court dismissed the applicant’s second application under Section 482 of the BNSS, 2023.