IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI FRIDAY, THE NINTH DAY OF MAY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE T MALLIKARJUNA RaS CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5333 OF 2025 Between: P. Joshua, S/o. P. Guravaiah, Aged about 47 years, Occ Government Servant, R/o.H.No.42-68-5, Ajith Singh Nagar Vijayawada, NTR District. Luna Center, ...Petitioner/Accused No.2 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Special Public Prosecutor for A.C.B., at High Court of A.P., atAmaravati. ...Respondent/Complainant Petition under Section 528 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitioner on anticipatory bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No. 01/RCO-CIU-ACB/2025 on the file of the SHO, Central Investigation Unit, A.P. Vijayawada, NTR District. I.A. NO: 1 OF 2Q2fi Petition under Section 528 of BNSS, circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to grant to grant interim anticipatory bail praying that in the to J % the petitioner/accused No.2 in Crime. No. 01/RCO-CIU-ACB/2025 on the file of the SHO, Central Investigation Unit, A.P. Vijayawada, NTR District. This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Kumar Marpu, Advocate for the Petitioner and the Public Prosecutor behalf of the Respondent. on The Court made the following; % APHC010257702025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3369] FRIDAY, THE NINTH DAY OF MAY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE T MALLIKARJUNA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5333/2025 Between: P.Joshua ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED AND The State Of Andhra Pradesh Counsel for the Petitioner/accused; 1. KUMAR MARPU Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1 .S.SYAM SUNDER RAO SC cum Spl P.P. For ACB ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT The Court made the following Order:- This Criminal Petition under Section 482 of B.N.S.S., is filed by the petitioner herein/A2 seeking to grant anticipatory bail in Crime N0.OI/RCO-CIU, AP, Vijayawada of Central Investigation Unit, AP, Vijayawada, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 384, 120B IPC. 2. The prosecution’s case, in brief, is that the Vigilance & Enforcement (V&E) Department conducted an enquiry based on a representation from Sri Nallapaneni Chalapathi Rao, Managing Partner of Sri Lakshmi Balaji Stone Crushers, Ediapadu, Palnadu District. The complaint alleged that Smt. Vidadala Rajani (A.1, former Minister and MLA), Sri P. Joshua, IPS (A.2, then RV&EO, Guntur), and others demanded and accepted bribes. The enquiry report, submitted vide Letter No.3999/V&E/NR/2024 dated 03.12.2024, recommended a comprehensive ACB investigation, disciplinary action against A.2, and J 2 legal proceedings against other involved parties. The Government forwarded the V&E report to the ACB through Memo No. 2645183/SC.D/A1/2024 dated 23.01.2025, requesting an investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Subsequently, the DG, ACB, A.P., Vijayawada sought sanction under Section 17A of the PC (Amendment) Act, 2018. The Government, vide Memo No.2645183/SC.D/A1/2024 dated 18.02.2025, granted permission for investigation against A.2 and A.4 (Sri Dodda Ramakrishna, PA to A.1). However, through Memo No. 2723576/A1/2025/Poll.B, dated 07.03.2025, it clarified that A. 1, being an MLA, does not require sanction under Section 17A as the alleged act, extorting money from a businessman, was unrelated to her official duties. According to the complainant, A.1, her brother-in-law Sri Vidadala Gopi, i.e., A.3, A.4, and A.2 demanded and extorted 2 crores for A.1 and 10 lakhs each for A.2 and A.3. A.2 allegedly conducted an unauthorized inspectionof the complainant's stone crusher unit on 10.09.2020, without a formal petition or orders, solely to intimidate and extort. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that A1 and A4, in the aforementioned crime number, were applied for anticipatory bail applications vide Crl.P.Nos.3375 and 3493 of 2025. This Court, while disposing of the applications on 25.04.2025, passed an order directing the investigation officer to follow the procedure laid down under Section 41A of the Cr.P.C.,/Section 35(3) of the BNSS. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor opposed to consider the 3. 4. request. 5. Heard. Perused the material on record. 3 % Considering the fact that the case of the present petitioner is identical to that of A1 and A4, this Court feels that such benefit can be extended to the petitioner as well. As a result, the Criminal Petition is disposed of, directing the investigating officer to strictly follow the procedure laid down under Section 41A of the Cr.P.C.,/Section 35(3) of the BNSS, and also the guidelines set forth by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar V. State of Bihar and another. The petitioner/A2, shall cooperate with the investigation in compliance to the procedure contemplated under section 35(3) of the BNSS, by furnishing information and documents sought by them in completing the investigation. Additionally the petitioner/A2 is required to adhere the following conditions: 6. 7. (a) The petitioner is obligated to furnish his address details to the investigating officer within a week. In case of any change in his residential address, he must promptly inform the investigating officer through an affidavit, (b) The petitioner should abstain from making any public comments related this case. 8. With the above directions, the Criminal Petition is disposed of. Miscellaneous applications pending, if any, shall stand closed. Sd/- P U V BHASKAR RAO ASSISTANT REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER 1. The Station House Officer, Central Investigation Unit Vijayawada, Krishna District. 2. One CC to Sri Kumar Marpu Advocate [OPUC] 3. Two CC’s to Sri S.Syam Sunder Rao, SC cum Spl P.P. for ACB [OUT] 4. Three CD Copies To, SAM sree 1 $ HIGH COURT DATED:09/05/2025 ORDER CRLP.No.5333 of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE CRLP