The Patna High Court has dismissed a fresh anticipatory bail application filed by a man accused in an extortion case, holding that a person who has already surrendered before a court and been released on bail is in its constructive custody. Justice Jitendra Kumar clarified that anticipatory bail is not maintainable in such circumstances.
However, the Court permitted the petitioner to surrender before the lower court within two weeks and apply for regular bail, directing the court to consider the application on the same day it is filed.
Background
The case arose from Gaura Police Station Case No. 54 of 2024 in Saran district, registered under Section 384 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with extortion.
The petitioner, Mainuddin Mansoori, had previously received anticipatory bail from the High Court on April 2, 2025. The earlier order contained a condition allowing cancellation of his bail bond if he had knowingly concealed any criminal antecedents, meaning previous criminal cases.
The record showed three criminal antecedents. The petitioner had inadvertently omitted Complaint Case No. 2274 of 2021 from his earlier bail application. Following this omission, the lower court cancelled his bail bond and issued a non-bailable warrant. He challenged the cancellation before the Sessions Court but withdrew his criminal revision on January 6, 2026, before approaching the High Court again.
The petitioner's counsel argued that the omission was neither intentional nor negligent and occurred due to inadvertence. Counsel also submitted that the petitioner was a government employee and that his arrest could create difficulties in his service.
The State and the informant opposed the application, arguing that the petitioner had already surrendered before the lower court, furnished his bail bond and been released on bail under the earlier order. They contended that he remained in the constructive custody of the court and could not seek anticipatory bail again.
Justice Jitendra Kumar accepted the objection raised by the State and the informant. The Court relied on Supreme Court decisions, including Manish Jain v. Haryana State Pollution Control Board and Sunil Fulchand Shah v. Union of India, to explain that release on bail does not completely end the court's control over an accused.
The judgment explained the legal position in these words:
"I agree with the submissions of learned counsel for the Informant and learned APP for the State that once the Petitioner surrenders before the Court and submits his bail bond and gets released, he is in constructive custody of the Court through his sureties, and thereafter, anticipatory bail petition of the Petitioner can not be maintainable."
The Court also referred to the Supreme Court's explanation in Niranjan Singh v. Prabhakar Rajaram Kharote concerning custody and submission to a court's jurisdiction. It concluded that the petitioner's earlier surrender and release on bail made the fresh anticipatory bail application legally not maintainable.
The Patna High Court dismissed the anticipatory bail petition. However, it granted the petitioner liberty to surrender before the lower court within two weeks and file an application for regular bail.
The lower court was requested to consider that application on the same day it was filed.
Case Details
- Case Title: Mainuddin Mansoori v. State of Bihar
- Case Number: Criminal Miscellaneous No. 41585 of 2026
- Judge: Justice Jitendra Kumar
- Decision Date: September 25, 2026
