IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATl FRIDAY, THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 4102 OF 2025 Between : 1. Vanthala Magu, S/o. Arj'un, aged about 26 years, R/o. Balluguda Village, Babusala Panchayat, Munchingiput Mandal, AIIuri Sitharama Raju District, Presently residing at Ganneruputtu Village, G. Madugula MandaI, A[luri Sitharam'a F`aju Distr-lot, 2. Vanthala Jagadeeswara Rao, S/o. Kangu, aged about 24 years, R/o. Ganneruputtu Village, G. Madugula Mandal, Alluri Sitharama Raju District. I..Petitioners/Accused No.1, 2 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra PradeshE ...Respondent petition under sections 437 & 439 of Cr.P.C/ Under Sections 480 & 485l' of BNSS praying that in i.he circumstances stated in the memorandum of grounds filed in support of the criminal petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitioners/Accused No.1, 2 on bail pending disposal of Crime No.05/2025 of G. Maciugula Police Station, now AIluri Si{harama Raju District. +I The Petition coming on fen hearing, upon perusing the petition and the; memorandum of grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of SRI GOLLAPALLI MAHESWARA RAO Advocate for the; Petitioners, and of PUBLIC PROS-ECUTOR, for the Respondent, the Court made the following :i_S.i..€ S Dr-YLR, . CrI.P.No.4102 of 2025 Dated 22.08.2025 The Court made 1:he following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Sections 437 and 439 of the code of criminal Procedure,1973 (for brevity [the Cr.P.C.I)/ Sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya Naga'rik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity [th6 BNSSJ), seeking to enlarge the petitioners/Accused Nos,1 and 2 on bail in Cr.No.05 of 2025 of G.Madugula Police Station, ASR District, registered against the petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 herein for the offences punI-Shable under Section 20 (b) (ii)(C), read with 8 (c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity [the NDPS Act'). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 17.02.2025, on receipt of credible information regarding illegal possession and transportation of ganja, the.Sub-Inspector of Police, G. Madugula Police Station, along with his staff and mediators, rushed to the asbestos-tiles house situated banana trees at Vanthala Magu, Ganneruputtu Village. The police notl'ced two persons in the banana plantation, and on seeing the police, they attempted to escape. However, the police apprehended them. During the i, investigation, Accused N`os.1 and 2 disclosed their address particulars and, 3 Dr. YLR, J crI.P.No.4102 of 2025 Dclted 22.08.2025 bas'1ng On their COnfeSSiOnal Statements, 22 Kgs of ganja Was Se-lZed under the cover of the mediators' report. '3. Sri G.Maheswara Rao, the learned COunSel for the Petitioners contend that the petitioners are innocent of the alleged offence and have been falsely implicated by the. police. lt is further submitted that the petitioners are the sole earn'lng members of the family and, therefore, their incarceration would cause undue hardship to their dependents. The petitioners undertake to strictly' adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this court| ln light of the foregoing submissions, learned counsel prays that the Present Petition be allowed in the interest Of juStiCe. 4. Per con£ra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, the learned Assistant Public prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the pet'ltioners, submitting that the investigation is still underway and Several material witnesses remain to be examined. lt 'ls contended that if the petitioners are released on bail at this stage, there is a strong likelihood that they may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law. ln view of the foregoing submissions, it is urged that the pet]ItiOn be dismissed. 5. Heard the learned COunSel for the Petitioners and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. '1-` Dr. YLI` crl.p.No.4102 of 2dr25 Dated 22.08.2025 6. As seen from the record, the petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 were allegedly indulged in dealing wI'th 22.00 kgs of ganja, which is a commercial quantity. The petitioners have been languishI'ng in jail since 17.02.2025. Nearly for the past 185 days they have been in judI'CI-aI custody. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 are the residents of Ganneruputtu vl'IIage, G.Madugula MandaI, ASR District. The material portion of the investigation is completed. All the witnesses of the Prosecution are Official Witnesses. Hence, the question of the petitioners influencI-ng Or threatening the witnesses or hampering the investl'gation may not arise. 7. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor subml'ts that there are no adverse antecedents against the petl-tioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 and no report Was filed before the learned Court below by the learned Public Prosecutor concerned seeking for extension period of judicial custody of the petitioners upto one year by indicating the progress of investigation and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 8. Section 36A(4) of fthe NDPS Act' states that if the imvestigation is not completed withI-n 180 days, the petitioners/Accused Mos.1 and 2 has an indefeasible right to bail, unless the SpecI-aI Court extends the period up to one year on the report of the Public Prosecutor, indicating the progress of i. . - Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.4102 of 2025 Dated 22.08.2025 the investigation and specific reasons for the d.etention of' the accused beyond the initial period. 9. Considering the period of detention undergone by the petit'lohers/Accused Nos.1 and 2 in judicial custody for the past 185 days, the nature and gravity of allegations levelled against the petitioners, and their alleged role played in the case, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioners on ba'll with the fo[]owing stringent conditions: i. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall be enlarged on bail subject to they executing a bond for a sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only), each with two sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned Judicial First class Magistrate, Paderu. ill. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned on every Saturday in between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm, till cognizance is taken by the learned the Trial Court. iii. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall not leave the limits of the District without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned. iv. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall not commitor indulge in commission of any offence in future. fa=C-_-=. 6 Dr. YLI` crI.P.No.4102 of 2dr25 Dated 22.08.2025 v. The petI'tiOnerS/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall cooperate with the investigating officer in further investigation of the case and shall make themselves available for interrogation by the investigating officer as and when required. vi. The petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 2 shall not, directly or indirectly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquainted with the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from disclosing such facts to the court or to any police offI.Cer. 10. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. //TRUE COPY// ASSISTAN SD/-G.HELANAI_nU; i-P.A R I s For/ To, 1. The I Additional District & Sessl-ons Judge-Cum-Special Judge for Trial of Offences under NDPS Act, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District I 2. The Judicial First Glass Magistrate, Paderu, Visakhapatnam District 3. The Superintendent1 I Central Jail, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnain DistrI'Ct 4. The Station House Officer, G.Madugula Police Station, Alluri Sitharama Raju District 5. One CC to SRl. GOLLAPALu MAHESWARA RAO Advocate [OPUC] 6. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of Andhra Pradesh [OUT] 7. One spare copy PSR •\. i `' ``*--+- +T HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED : 22/08/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.4102 of 2025 ALLOWED ELrdgiv,ys`ae,L~` I qu*=~se±adstyierty±thS*= `