e _ .i ,f¢r. z, IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI a+/ f. .. : _j1:` •1 I.. ..._*.st't THURSDAY, THE THIRTY FIRST DAY OF JULY, TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE' DR JUSTICE Y| LAKSHMANA RAO'`-`L> CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 6545 OF 2025 Betwee n : Dukkeri Ramana Murthy, S/o. Matchalingam, aged about 37 years, R/o. Nurma{hi Village, G.Madugula Mandal, Al]uri Sitharama Raju District, A.P. ...petitioner/Accused No.1 AND The State of Andhra Prade§h,i Rep by its public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. u.Respondent petition under sections 43:7 '&-'''4`39 of Cr.P.C and Sections 480 & 483 of BNSS, is filed praying that in the circumstances stated in the grounds filed in support of the criminal Petition, the:` High Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitioner/Accused No.1 on bail :pending disposal of Crime No.21/2025 of sabbavaram p.s., now Anakapalli District. The petition coming on for' h`6aring, upon perusing the petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of sri Adapa sudhakar Rao, Advocate for thS petitioner and of public Prosecutor for Respondent, the Court made the following l,.I i Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.6545 of 2025 Dated 31.O7.2025 The Court made the following: ORDER.. The Criminal Petition has been filed under SectI'OnS 437 and 439 of the code of criminal Procedure, 1973 (for brevity {the cr.p.c.I)/ sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya NagarI|k Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity {the BNSS'), seeking to enlarge the petitI-Oner/Accused No.1 on bail in Cr.No.21 of 2025 of Sabbavaram Police Station, Anakapalli District, registered against the petitioner/Accused No.1 herein for the offences Punishable under Section 20 (b) (ii)(C) read with 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity tthe NDPS Act'). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on o1.02.2025, on receipt of credible information regarding the illegal possessI'On and transportation of ganja, the Sub-Inspector of Police, Sabbavaram police Station, along with his staff, secured the presence of mediators, rushed to Marripalem Toll Plaza, Sabbavaram, and conducted vehicles checking. The police noticed one Eicher vehicle coming from Anandapuram towards Anakapalli, on seeing the police, the vehicle driver attempted to stop and reverse the vehicle. The Sub-Inspector of Police apprehended the Accused Nos.1 to 5 and found in their possession 224 KGs of ganja, seized the contraband r1+-a under a cover of mediators"report, and arrested t7hem. 3 Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.6545 of 2025 Dclted 31.07.2025 3. Mr. Adapa Sudhakar Rao, the learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petit.ioner is innocent of the alleged offence and has been falsely implicated by the police. It is further submitted that the petitioner is the sole earning member of the family and, therefo-re, his continued incarceration would cause undue hardship to his dependents. The petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this Court. ln light of the foregoing, learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of justice] 4. Per con£ra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, 'ihe learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the petitioner, submitting that the investigation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. ]t is contended that if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, there is a strong likelihood that he may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law, In view of the foregoing, it is l[rged that the petition be dismissed. 5. As seen from the record, the petitioner/Accused No.1 was I-ndulged in transportation and possession of 224 kgs of ganja. Although it is commercial quantity, the petitioner has been languishing in the jail since 01.02.2025 onwards. Nearly for the past 180 days he has been in the judicial custody. The investigating officer has not filed charge sheet in this case. Material portion of investigation is completed. All the witnesses of the prosecution are / fpF R`-I '\ 4 Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.6545 of 2O25 Dated 31.07.2025 official witnesses. Hence, the question of petitioner influencing or threatening the witnesses or hampering the investigatI-On may not arise. 6. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there are no adverse antecedents against the petitI-Oner/Accused No.1 and no report was filed before the learned Court below by the learned Public Prosecutor concerned seeking for extension period of judI-Cial Custody Of the Petitioner uPtO One year by indicating the progress of investigation and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial perI'Od. 7. Section 36A(4) of [the Actj states that if the investI|gatiOn iS not completed within 180 days, the petitioner/accused No.1 has an indefeasible right to baI-I, unless the Special Court extends the period up to one year on the report Of the PublI-C Prosecutor, indicating the progress of the investigatI-On and specific reasons for the detentI-On Of the aCCuSed` beyond the initial period. 8. Consl-dering the period of detention undergone by the Petitioner/Accused No.1 in judicial custody for the past 180 days, the nature and gravity of allegation levelled against the petitioner, and his alleged role played in the case, this court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail with the following stringent conditI'OnS: i. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall be enlarged on bail subject to,he executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only), with two sureties each for '\ .--- e_ 5 Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.6545 of 2025 Dated 31.07.2025 the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned lI Additional Junior Civil Judge-Cum-XII Metropolitan Magistrate, Anakapalli. ii, The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall appear before the Station House Officer, Sabbavaram Police Station, Anakapalli District, on every Saturday in between 10:OO am and 05:OO pm, till cognizance is taken by the learned the Trial Court. iii. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall not leave the limits of the District without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned. iv. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall notcommit or i.ndu[ge in commiss'lon of any offence in future. v. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall cooperate with the investigating officer in further investigation of the case and shall make himself available for interrogation by the invest-lgating officer as and when required. vi. The petitioner/Accused No.1 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 officer. vii. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If he claims that he does not 6 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6545 of 2O25 Dated 31.07.2025 have a passport, he shall submit an affI-davit tO that effect to the Investigating OffI'Cer. 9. AccordI'ngly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. To, c--_-. TiRUECOPY,, I :ic'iiae i:. SD/-M.SRINIVAS ASSISTANTAREGISTRAR •'.-I 1. The " Additional Civil Judge(Junior Division)-Gum-XII Metropolitan Magistrate, AnakapaIIi. 2. The I Additional District & Sessions Judge-Special Judge for Trial of Offences under NDPS Act, Visakhapatnam. 3. The Superintendent, Central Jail, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District. 4. The Station House Officer, Sabbavaram Police Station, Anakapalli District. tri 5. One CC to Sri Adapa Sudhakar Rao, Advocate [OPUC] 6. Two CCs toPUBLIC-PROSECUTOR, High Court of A.P., Amaravati, [OUT] 7. One spare copy. PSD HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED:31 /07/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.6545 of 2025 ALLOWED g:€i*ts*rf{::-±!;€%1[<.i-rfe|ttaetr±