The Supreme Court has granted the relief of anticipatory bail to a Vijayawada businessman who was allegedly involved in supplying bottles and caps with Government labels for the manufacture of spurious liquor. The Apex Court took note of the fact that he was not initially named in the FIR and no raid was ever conducted at his place of business.

The Apex Court was considering an appeal preferred by the appellant against the order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court refusing to grant anticipatory bail to the appellant in a case registered under the Andhra Pradesh Excise Act, 1968.

The Division Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice N.V. Anjaria held, “Having heard the learned senior counsel for the appellant and the learned ASG for the respondent-State at length, we are inclined to release the appellant on anticipatory bail for the reason that the appellant was not initially named in the FIR and no raid was ever conducted at his place of business.”

Factual Background

The appellant is a businessman engaged in the business of manufacturing plastic and aluminium bottle caps through his establishment ‘Sha Misrimal Hirachand Empty Glass Bottles Wholesale’ at Vijayawada. As per the prosecution’s case, a raid was conducted at the shop of Addepalli Jagan Mohana Rao (second accused), Ravi Khirana General Stores in Ibrahimpatnam Town, and a nearby godown in Divya Complex by Excise Officials, which led to the seizure of 7800 bottles of spurious liquor, 3325 litres of spurious liquor blend and bottling and capping machinery. A subsequent raid was conducted on the same day at the A.N.R. Restaurant & Bar, uncovering heavy manufacturing equipment, including a water plant and spirit blending tanks.

The investigation revealed that the accused utilised the vacant premises of the A.N.R. Restaurant & Bar to blend spirit with water, caramel and essences to produce counterfeit versions of brands like Old Admiral Brandy and Kerala Malt Whiskey. During the investigation, one of the witnesses referred to the appellant as Manoj Kothariya @ Manoj Kumar, the owner of Mishramal Heerachand Plastic Dealers. Similar references were made by two other witnesses ascribing the role of supply of bottles and caps with Government labels for the manufacture of spurious liquor to the appellant. Another memo was filed by the prosecution for changing the name of accused 20 in the FIR to Mutta Manoj Kumar @ Manoj Kotaria, son of Misramal Ji.

Arguments

It was the appellant’s case that he was not initially named in the FIR, and there was some confusion about his identity.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the submissions made and the facts of the case, the Bench noted that the appellant was not initially named in the FIR and no raid was conducted at his place of business. The Bench further found that the raid was conducted at Ravi Khirana General Stores and A.N.R. Restaurant & Bar, both of which did not belong to the appellant.

“Moreover, the appellant has been arraigned as accused in two earlier criminal cases in which he was arrested and released on bail. In the present case, he has been granted interim protection from arrest by this Court vide order dated 6.1.2026 and he has appeared before the Investigating Officer. There is no allegation that the appellant has misused the liberty granted”, it noted.

Thus, allowing the Appeal, the Bench made the interim protection absolute by directing that in the event of arrest, the appellant would be released on anticipatory bail on such terms and conditions as may be imposed by the officer arresting the appellant or the Trial Court, as the case may be, subject to further conditions that the appellant would always cooperate with the investigation and would not influence the witnesses.

Cause Title: Manoj Kumar Mutta v. The State of Andhra Pradesh (Neutral Citation: 2026 INSC 215)

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Justice Prashant Kumar MishraJustice NV Anjaria

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.