lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI WEDNESDAY ,THE THIRD DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETI"ON NO: 6957 OF 2025 Betwee n : Sobha Krishna, S/o.saddu, Aged 40 years, R/o.somavaram village`, Annavaram Panchayat, Chintapalli MandaI, G.Madaugula, ASR District. ...Petitioner/A2 AND The State ofAP, Rep. By''its Public Prosecutor, High Court ofA.P., Amaravati, Through Station House Officer, Pbndurthy PolI'Ce Station. ...Respondenti Petition under Sections 48o &1'483 of BNSS/ Under Sections 437 & 439 of Cr.P.C, prayI'ng that in the circumstances stated in the memorandum of grounds filed in support of the criminal petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitioner/ A.2 on Regular Bail in connection with Crime No.110/2025 on the fii'e of Pendurthy Police Station, Visakhapatnam District. dated:24.02.2025 . The Petition coming on for-hearing, upon perusing the petition and the memorandum of grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the;I arguments of SRI CHALAMALASETTI ANIL KUMAR Advocate for the Petitioner, and of PUBLIC PR'OSEcuTOR, for the Respondent, the court- made the following APHCO10333092025 EFffiE I Dr,YLR,J Crl.P.No.6957 of 2025 Dated 03.09.2025 'IN'THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE THIRD DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 6957/202± ' Bet`^,een : I I Sobha Krishna The State of AP AND [3521] m.PETITIONER/ACCUSED ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the PetitI-Oner/accused: I 1. CHALAMALASETTI ANIL KUMAR Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR - The Court made the following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Sections 437 and 4`39 of the Code of CrI'minaI Procedure,1973 (for brevity cthe Cr.P.C.]) / Sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha SanhI'ta, 2023 (for brevI-ty [the BNSS'), seeking to enlarge the PetitI-Oner/Accused No.2 on bail in Crime No.110 of 2025 of. Pendhurthy Police Station, Visakhaptanm i Commissionerate,. registered against the petitioner/Accused No.2 herein / *--' I =ty +I \= \ 2 I ® Dr.yLR, J Crl.P.No.6957 of2025 Dated o3,09.2025 for the offences punlshable under sectIOn 20 (b) (ll)(c) read wlth 8(c) of the / NarcotIC Drugs and psychotropl,c substances Act, 1985 (for brev,ty fthe NDPS Act'). 2 The case of{he prosecutIOn IS that on 24022025 at 1230 hrs, at opposlte Biock No 7 Road, Appannapa'em, JNNURM Colony, vepagunta, vISakhapatnam lclty, the complalnant ch swamy Naldu, sl of polICe, pendurthI PS, actlng on credlble Informal,on, along wlth staff conducted a I raI'd. On notI'CIng the poII'Ce, a female person attempted t6 escape but was apprehended on enqulry, she found ln POSSeSSIOn of LI-quld GanJa (Hash / all) - 3 Kgs (3 packets), allegedly procured from Accused No.2. One MI I AndroI'd Moblle phone' was :lso selzed. The accused was arrested and property sellzed lmc!er a medl|atorJs report. 3. sH Chalamalasetty An" Kumar, the learned counsel for the petltI'Oner conte_nds that the pet,'tIOner I'S innocent of the alleged offence and has been falsely Implicated by the po!ICe lt IS further submltted that the petI|tI'Oner IS the sole earn,ng member of the famlly and, therefore, hls contlnued lncarceratlon would cause undue hardshl'p to hI'S dependents The petJtlOner undertakes to strictly adhere to any condl'tIOnS that may be Imposed by thls court ln IIght of the foregolng, learned counsel,pralys that the present petltIOn be allowed ln the I-nterest ofjus{l®ce. S'. Dr.YLR, J crl.P.No.6957 of 2025 Dated 03.09.2025 4. Perconfra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the petitioner, submitting that the I investigation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. lt is contended that if the petitioner is released on bail a{ this stage, I there is a strong likelihood that he may abscond, thereby' hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law. ln view of the foregoing, it|lsurgedthatthepetitionbedismissed. , I 5. As seen from the record, the allegation against the Petitioner/Accused No.2 -ls that he alolng with the other accused indulged in dealing with 3 Kgs of Hash Oil. The petitioner has been languishing in the jail Since 24.02.2025 onwards. Nearly for the past 189 days he has been in the judicial Custody. I The petitioner is the permanent resident Of Somavaram Village, Annavaram panchayat, chintapalli MandaI, G'. Madaugula, ASR District. Hence, the question of petitioner influencing or' threatening the witnesses or hampering the investigation may not arise. I 6. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that' there are nO adverse antecedents against the petitioner/Accused No.2 and no report was I filed before the learned court below by the learned Public Prosecutor concerned seeking for extension period of judicial custody of the petitioner upto one year by indicating the progress of investigation land the specific reasons for the cietention of the accused beyond the initial perioci. Dr.YLR,-I Crl.P.No.6957 of2025 Dated 03.09.2025 7. sectI'On 36A(4) of {the ActJ states that l'f the in,vestigation is not completed wI'thin 180 days, the petitioner/accused No.2 has an I-ndefeasI'ble n'ght to bail, unless the special Court extends the period up to one year on the report of the public Prosecutor, I'ndicating the progress of the investigation and specific reasons for the detentI|On Of the accused beyond the jni{jal period. 8. considering the period of detention undergone by the petl'tjoner/Accused No.2 jn judllcl-al custody for the past 189 days, the nature and gravI-ty Of allegation levelled against the petjtjoner, and his alleged role I played jn the case, thI'S Court is I'nCIined to enlarge the petj{ioner on ba" with the foIIowI-ng Stringent conditiolls.I I I-, The Pe{jtjoner/Accused No.2 shall be enlarged on ba" subject to he executing a bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand only), wl'th two sureties each for the like sum each to the sail-SfaCtjOn Of the learned vll Additional JudicI-aI I Class MagI-Strafe, VI'Sakhapatnam. i ij. The Petjtjoner/Accused No.2 shall appear before the I station House offI'Cer, Pendhurthy police station, visakhapatnam commissionerate, on every saturday in between / 10:00 am and o5.-00 pm, {I'Il cognjzance js taken by the learned the Trial Court. I /` Dr.YLR, J Crl.P.No.6957 of 2025 Dated 03.09.2O25 iii. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall nat leave the limits of the I District without prior permission from the station House Officer concerned. I iv. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not commit or indulge in commission Of any offence in future. v. The PetI'tI-Oner/Accused No.2 shall cooperatel with the investigating officer in further,investigation of the case and shall make himself available for interrogation by the I-nvestigating offI'Cer aS and When required. vi. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not, directly or I-ndireCtly, make any inducement, threat or promise to any person acquaI-nted With the facts of the case so as to dissuade him/her from dI'SCIosing such facts to the court or to any police officer. vii. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall surrender his passport, I'f i any, to the investigating officer. If he claims that he does not have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating off['cer. Accordingly, the Criminal petition is allowed. SD/-M.SRINIVAS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR ftjFFICEID` SECTIO /I/lTRUE COPY// if To, J 1. The I Additl'onaI Dl|strict & sessI'OnS Judge-Gum-special Judge for Trial of offences under NDPS Act, Vl-sakhapatnam, vI-SakhaPatnam Djs{rI|Ct 2. The VII Additional Judicial I class Magistrate, visakhapatnam. 3. The Superintendent, central prI'SOn, Vjsakhapatnam. 4. The S{atjon House officer, pendur{hy po[I'Ce Station, VI'Sakhapatnam District 5. One CC to SRI. CHALAMALASETTI ANIL KUMAR Advocate [opuc] 6. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of Andhra pradesh [OUT] 7. One spare copy PSR i,\ HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED : 03/09/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.6957 of 2025 ALLOWED