[3369] lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMAR,_£S# WEDNESDAY ,THE NINTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE I MALLIKARJUNA R CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 6646 OF 2025 Betwee n : Shaik Sameer, S/o. NaguI Meera, aged 24 years, R/o. 5th Line, Cobaldpet, Guntur, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Petitioner/Accused No.1 The State of Andhra Pradesh, Represented by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, High Court Buildings at Nelapadu, * lI Guntur District, Andhra Prad,e;h. [Pattabhipuram Police Station, Guntur] AND Respondent/Complainant Petition under Section 480-I & 483 of BNSS is filed praying that in the circumstances stated in the affida_vit` filed in support of the Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to grant bail to the petitioner/accused No. 1 in connection with Crime No.176 of 2025 on the file of the Pattabhipuram Police Station, Guntur, Guntur District. The petition/Appeal coming. on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and the grounds filed in supporf` .tJlereOf and upon hearing the arguments Of Sri CHETAN PONNURU Advocate for the Petitioner, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR (AP) for the Resporident and the Court made the following. r- --:* APHCO10322492025 E.Efl[ lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE NINTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE T MALLIKARJUNA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 6646/2025 [3369] Between : 1.SHAIK SAMEER, S/O. NAGUL MEERA, AGED 24 YEARS, R/O. 5TH LINE, COBALDPET, GUNTUR, GuNTUR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH. ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED AND 1.THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Represented by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, High Court Buildings at Nelapadu, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Pattabhipuram Police Station, Guntur ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Petition under Section 437/438/439/482 of Cr.P.C and 528 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of criminal Petition, the H'Igh Court pleased to grant bail to the petitioner/accused No.1 in connection with Crime N6.176 of 2025 on the file of the Pattabhipuram Police Station, Gun{ur,I Guntur District and pass Counsel for the Petitioner/accused: 1.CHETAN PONNURU , Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER: This Criminal Petition, u/Sec.480 & 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, has been filed by the petitioner/A1, seeking bail, in Crime No.176/2025 of Pattabhipuram Police Station, Guntur District. =E=-EE 2 2. =E=-EE 2 2. A case has been registered against the petitioner and others for the offences punishable u/Secs.20(b)(ii)(C) r/w 8(c) of the NDPS Act. 3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Publl'c Prosecutor representing the respondent/state. 4. Case of the prosecutI'On, in brI'ef, Its that, On 19.4.2025 at about 10.30am, on receipt of credI-ble information, regarding illegal possessI-On and transportation of ganJ-a, the S.I of Police, along with staff and mediators rushed to Northern side of pond, Nethajinagar, Guntur Town and found three male persons with bags I-n Suspicious Circumstances. On seeing POliCe, Said three persons tried to escape. Then police apprehended them and on enquiry, they dI'SCIosed their identity particulars as that of Al to A3 and police found 20.400kgs of ganja in their possession. police seized the contraband and other material and arrested the accused. since then the petitioners are in judicial custody. 5. Perused the record. 6. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the investI-gatjng officer has not followed the procedure contemplated under Section 52-A of the NDPS Act. However, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor disputed this and submitted that an inventory was conducted as per the provisions of Sectl'on 52-A of the NDPS Act I'n the Presence Of a Magistrate. Another ground raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner js that the contraband allegedly seized from the possession of the petitioner and others weighs 20.400 kgs. The definition of ganja only I-nCludeS the flowering Or i- ,`` I \-p L- +I. 3 fruiting tops of the cannabis plant and excludes the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops. ln support of this contention, the learned counsel for the petitioners referred to a decision reported in Criminal Application (BA) No.602 of 2024, wherein it was observed that the contraband seized in that case weighed 50 kgs. The Court considered this fact, whereas, in the present case, the contraband allegedly seized weighs 20.400 kgs. ln the said decision, the Court also stated in paragraph No.7 that "a perusal of the material on record shows that what was seized was the plant, i.e., leaves, seeds, stems, and stalks, and without separating these\parts, the ganja was weighed. As the seized material was not weighed after separating the leaves anc] other parts, and moreover, it was not accompanied by the flowering or fruiting tops, it is difficult to ascertain whether the quantity can be considered commercial". 7. In the same decision, paragraph No.9 also observes, ",'f ,'s s,'gn,'r,-car,f to note that the definition of 'ganja' under the NDPS Act includes only the flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant and excludes the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops. Thus, the definition of 'ganja' is restricted and does not include the seeds and leaves of the cannabis plant. The panchanama and seizure do not reflect the Presence Of flowering or fruiting tops of the plant." 8, ln the mediators report, i{ is stated on opening Of bag, they noticed dry leaves, flowers and seeds weighing about 20.'400 kgs. ln the light of the observations made in the said decision, it is doubtful as to whether the FJf>fofP 4 commercial quantity of ganja has been seized and the petitioner has no criminal antecedents and the learned Assistant public prosecutor affirmed the same. Learned Assistant public Prosecutor submit that, except for the awaiting report from RFSL, most of the investigation has been completed. considering the fact that petitioner has been in judicial custody from 19.4.2025, most of the invest]'gation might have completed and most of the witnesses are official witnesses, and given that the release of the petitioner/Al would not hamper the invest,-gation. considering the entire material on record, this court is inclined to grant bail to the petitioner with some COndi|tiOnS. 9. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following conditions: (i) The petitioner/Al herein shall be released on his executing a Personal bond for Rs.2O,000/- (Rupees twenty thousand only) with two sureties for a like sum to the satisfaction of the learned I Additional sessions Judge-Gum-special Judge for trial of offences under NDPS Act, Guntur; (ii) On release, the petitioner shall appear before the station House officer concerned once in a week i.e. on every sunday in between 10.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon, for a period of three (03) months. (iii) the petitioner shall not tamper with the evidence and hamper the investigation and shall cooperate for investigation. \J`` ASSISTANT For/ //TRUE COPY// sN D+J -RasSR I_ - IDEVl TRAR SECTION C)FFICER To] 1. The Special Judge Constituted under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic substances Act-Gum-I Additional Sessions Judge, Guntur. - 2. The Superintendent, Sub-Jail, Guntur. 3. The Station House Officer, Pattabhipuram Police Station, Guntur. 4. One CC to SRI. CHETAN PONNURU Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two cos to Public Prosecutor (AP) High Court ofA.P., Amaravati [OUT]. 6. One spare copy ~ -_c( -apr* / HIGH COURT TMR,J DATED :09/07/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.6646 of 2025 ALLOWED / -/.-