IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI` .'~* .,r' ttJ THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SIXTH DAY OF JUNE, ll^/o THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE I/ :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DF` JUSTICE Y. LAKSHIV]ANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5984 OF 2025 \ \\>- ` \ `=.-,-.` .-` Betwee n : p.Ramesh Babu, S/o Ad'lnarayanappa, Aged 36 years, Hindu, Cultivation, Residing at Kirikera, Hindupur Manda]. ...petitioner/Accused No.4 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Represented by the Public Prosecutor, High Court at Amaravathi. ...Respondent/Comp[ainant petition under section 438 of Cr.P.C (New Under Section 482 of BNSS, 2023) is filed praying that in the CirCumStarroeS Stated in memorandum of grounds of criminal petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the station House officer, Prohibition & Excise Station, Hindupur, Sri Satya Sai District to release the Petitioner/A4 on bail in the event of his arrest in connection w'lth the crime No.17 of 2025 dated o7.01.2025 of Prohibition & Excise Station, H'lndupur, Sri Satya Sai Dlstrlct+he petltlOn COmlng On for hearlng, upon PeruSlng the Petitlon and .,/` memorandum of grounds of criminal petition and upon hearing the arguments of sri N.Ranga Reddy, Advocate for the Petitioner and Public prosecutor for the Respondent, the Court made the following; ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanh-lta, 2023 by the petitioner for granting of pre-arrest bail in connection with Crime No.17 of 2025 of Prohibition and Excise Station Hindupur, Sri Satya Sai District, registered for the alleged offences punishable fzzzzzr +r== < -rd under sections 7(B) read -wI'th 8(B)(C) of the A.P. Prohibition Act,1995 (for Jr. brevity fthe Act.,I). I 2. Facts, in brief, of{he case are that on o7.01.2025 at about 1.-00 PM, in Pursuance Of Orders issued by the Director of Enforcement, prohI-bitiOn & ExcI'Se, Vijayawada, and as per the instructions of the Deputy Commissioner and Assistant CommI'SSI|Oner Of Prohibition& Excise, Anantapuramu, a raid was conducted by the Prohibition & Excise Inspector, Hindupur and his staff at around 2:00 PM near Rachupalli Cross on Konduru-Balampalli,bus road of Chalivendula Village, Hindupur Mandal. During the operation, a male indivI'dual found in possession of a white polythene bag attempted to flee but was apprehended by the staff. On questionI-ng, he admitted that the bag contained liquor bottles. Upon verification, 48 pet bottles of suspected spurI|OuS Tropicana VSOP Brandy (180 mI) were found. The individual was I'dentified as Ashok Kumar/Accused No.1, aged 32 years, S/o Erragadla Lakshminarasappa, a resident of chalivendula village. He disclosed that he had purchased the bottles from one Mahesh at Rs.100/- each and was reselling them for Rs.110. The labels on the bottles lacked standard identifiers such as Holograms and FSSAI numbers, and bore inconsistent printing, leading to the identification of the stock as spurious. one sample bottle was drawn, sealed, and labeled for chemical analysis. The accused was informed of the offence under section 7(B) read with 8(B)(C) of [the Act.,I and was taken into custody after informI'ng his relatives. The contraband and samples were seized on the spot under cover of a special report. \\.,vy <..----t ap/ -1'1 ? •*/ +<` i== E! 3. Heard learned counsel for the Petitioner and the learned Assistant public prosecutor. Perused the record. 4. Sri N.Ranga Reddy, learned counsel for the Petitioner, Submits that the petitioner has not committed any offence and he was falsely 'lmplicated in this case. He is the sole breadwinner Of his family. He has got fixed abode. The petitioner would abide by any condition tO be imposed by this Court. 5. Per confra, Mr. Neelotphal Ganji, the learned Assistant Public prosecutor, opposed in granting of bail stating that the some more material witnesses have to be exam-lned; investigation 'ls not completed; .if the petit'loner is enlarged on bail, he would not be available for the investigation and he would escape from the clutches of law; and urged to dismiss the bail petition. 6. As seen from the record, the Accused No.2 allegedly confessed against the petit'loner, who.is arrayed as Accused No.4. This Court granted Pre-arrest bail to Accused No.3 vide orders dated 27.03.2025 in Crl.P.No.2305 of 2025. The Hon'ble Apex Court in P.Krishna Mohan R-eddy v. The State of Andhra pradeshlat paragraph No.28 observed that While considering the plea for grant of pre-arrest bail or even regular bail the Courts would be SIow in considering the co-accused confessions. The belief .of the petitioner that he would be apprehended by the police is perceived reasonable because of the political rivalry between the Accused No.2 and the present Petitioner, and 12025 SCC Online SC 1157 ` ..... 4 -` /I Accused No.2 has gI'Ven a_confession against Accused No.4 before the police. ~| 7. ln view of the above facts and circumstances of the case, this court is inclI'ned tO consider request of petitioner for grant of anticipatory bail. 8. Accordingly, this crI'minal Petition iS allowed With the following directions: a) ln the event of arrest.of the petitioner, the petl-tioner shall be I enlarged on bail on executl'ng a personal bond for a sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees twenty thousand only), with two sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfactl'on of the arresting polllCe OffiCl'als,I b) The petitioner shall make himself available for investigation as and when required; c) The petitioner shall not cause any threat, inducement or promise to the prosecution witnesses; a) The petitioner shall appear before the statl'on House Officer concerned once in a week i.e., on every saturday between 10.00 a.m. and 05.00 p.m., till filing of the charge sheet. e) The petitioner shall not leave the district limits without the express Permission from the Station House Offl'cer concerned. 9. Accordingly, thecriminal petition isallowed- A /, `\- n'\3 i \` \ SCI/,- K.'T~ATA R.Ao SECTION OFFICER Z \` To, 1. The ll Additional Distr-lot and Sessions Judge, Hindupur. 2. The Station House Officer, Prohibitions & Excise Station, H.indupur, Sri Satya Sai District. 3. One CC to Sri. N.Ranga Reddy, Advocate [OPUC] 4. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAP [OUT] 5. One spare copy MM HIGH COURT Dr.YLR,J DATED:26/06/2025 ORDER CRLP.No.5984 of 2025 ALLOWED 5 - ff!-- ._<* ` -i-.¢,.I..