APHC010334402025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3521] WEDNESDAY,THE TWENTY FOURTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 6926/2025 Between: 1. SRAVANAM PRASANTH, S/O SRAVANAM KRISHNA HINDU , AGED ABOUT 30 YEARS, FVO 46-7-23, DONDAPARTI , NEAR RAMALAYAM VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT 2. SRAVANAM SHANKAR, S/O SRAVANAM KRISHNA HINDU, AGED ABOUT 32 YEARS, R/O 17/173, GARUDADHRI APARTMENTS SIMHADRI HILLS,GOPALAPATNAM RURAL VISAKHAPATNAM DISTRICT ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED(S) AND THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Rep. by SHO, Gopalapatnam Police Station, Visakhapatnam Through Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh At Amaravati ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused(S): CHINTAPALLI SRINIVAS Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: PUBLIC PROSECUTOR 2 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 The Court made the following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNSS’) by the petitioners/Accused Nos.2 and 4 for granting of pre-arrest bail in connection with Crime No.148 of 2025 of Gopalapatnam Police Station, Visakhapatnam District, registered for the alleged offences punishable under Sections 318 (4) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNS’), 21 (1)(2)(3) of the BUDS Act, 2019. 2. Petitioner No.1/Accused No.2 has surrendered before the Investigating Officer. Hence, the petition against Petitioner No.1/Accused No.2 has become infructuous and is accordingly dismissed. 3. The case of the prosecution is that on 05.06.2025 at 17.00 hrs, at Simhadri Hills Apartment, Old Gopalapatnam, Visakhapatnam, the complainant lodged a report stating that he had joined a chit of Rs.5,00,000/- run by Sravanam Meenakshi and her family, and paid about Rs.3,45,000/- between June 2022 and June 2024. After completion of the chit period, he was to receive Rs.4,70,400/-, but the accused induced him to keep the amount as a deposit promising double 3 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 return, which was not repaid. His friends, S.V. Srinivasa Rao (Rs.90,000/-) and Malla Vasanth (Rs.2,88,980/-), also suffered in a similar manner. He later came to know that the accused had collected money from several others in the same way and cheated them. 3. Sri Chintalapalli Srinivas, the learned counsel for the petitioner contend that the petitioner/Accused No.4 is innocent of the alleged offence and he has been falsely implicated by the police. It is further submitted that the petitioner is the sole earning member of the family and, therefore, his incarceration would cause undue hardship to his dependents. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that there are no transactions between Petitioner/Accused No.4 and any of the victims. Petitioner No.2 is the son of Accused No.1, and Petitioner No.1 is also a son of Accused No.1. Petitioners/Accused Nos.2 and 4 are brothers. Even though Petitioner No.1 stays with his mother, Petitioner No.2 does not; he has a family and is living with his pregnant wife. There are no specific allegations levelled against Petitioner/Accused No.4. Petitioner No.2 has been a seafarer for the past nine months and, at the relevant point of time, he was not in the city. It is further submitted that the petitioner/Accused No.4 is ready to abide any conditions that may be 4 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 imposed by this Court, and it is urged to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. 4. Per contra, Mr. Neelotphal Ganji, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner/Accused No.4, submitting that the investigation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. It is contended that if the petitioner/Accused No.4 is released on pre-arrest bail, there is a strong likelihood that he may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law. It is further submitted that there are money transactions between the petitioner/Accused No.4 and the de-facto complainant, and all the accused have deceived 20 gullible victims, taking away Rs.66 lakhs from them. In view of the foregoing submissions, it is urged that the petition be dismissed. 5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 6. As seen from the record, the allegations levelled against the petitioner/Accused No.4 are that he also collected chit amounts from the gullible public. Statements of L.Ws.1, 2, 3, and 12 disclose that the petitioner/Accused No.4 actively participated in the illegal transactions of 5 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 the other accused. Nearly Rs.66 lakhs were illegally collected by the petitioner/Accused No.4 and the other accused from twenty victims under an unauthorized and illegal chit business. There are PhonePe transactions between the petitioner/Accused No.4 and the de-facto complainant. On one instance, Rs.8,000/- was paid through PhonePe, and on another instance, Rs.13,000/- was paid to Accused No.4 by the de-facto complainant. Accused No.3 was granted bail by this Court as she was pregnant. Accused No.1 surrendered before the learned Jurisdictional Magistrate. 7. In view of the specific overt acts attributed against the petitioner/Accused No.4, this Court is not inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner/Accused No.4, as it would amount to giving a shield, or protection or license to the person against whom specific overt acts are attributed, as per the judgments of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. State of Panjab1 and Sushila Aggarwal v. State of (NCT of Delhi)2. There are no merits to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner/Accused No.4. Hence, this Criminal Petition is liable to be dismissed. 8. In the result, the Criminal Petition is dismissed. 1(1980) 2 SCC 565 2(2020) 5 SCC 1 6 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 As a sequel, Miscellaneous petitions, if any pending, shall stand closed. ________________________ DR. Y. LAKSHMANA RAO, J Date: 24.09.2025 RSI 7 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.6926 of 2025 Dated 24.09.2025 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION No.6926 of 2025 Date:24.09.2025 RSI