\ -_T~_- lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI THURSDAY, THE THIRTY FIRST DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: I- Between.I THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RA CRIMINAL PETITION Moll 7061 OF 2025 E=E= RahuI Pan,, s/o Nlhu panI', Aged about 24 years, R/o Chrlstina sahi, Ranalal, R Udaya Gjri, Gajapatj District, odjsha state. ...PetI-tiOner/Accused No.2 AND The state ofAndhra pradesh, Rep by Its publlc Prosecutor H[gh court of Andhra pradesh, AmaravatI'. ...Respondent petltlon under sectIOnS 480 & 483 of BNSS, praylng that ln the clrcumstances stated ln the memorandum of grounds flled ln Support of the crlmlnal PetltIOn, the Hlgh court may be pleased to release the petltloner who !s arrayed as Accused No 2 on ba" In COnnectl'on with cr]me No 30 of 2025 on the fI'le of Vjsakhapatnam police stall-on, GRP Vl-jayawada DI'StrICt. The petitI'On comlng on for hearlng, upon perusing the petltl'On and the memorandum of grounds fl!ed ln support thereof and upon hearlng the arguments of SRI SIVAPRASAD REDDY VENATI Advocate for the petltIOner,` and of puBL'C PROSECUTOR, for the Respondent, the court made the following / ® Dr.YLF\ . crI.P.No.7O;1 of 2al2` Dated 31.07.2025 The Court made the following: ORDER.- The Criminal Petition has been filed under Sections 437 and 439 of the code of criminal procedure,1973 (for breV'lty {the Cr.P.C.I)/ Sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity !the BNSSl), seek'lng tO enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.2 on ba" in cr.No.30 of 2025 of Visakhapatnam Police Station, GRP Vijayawada registered against the petitioner/Accused No.2 herein for the OffenCeS punishable under section 8(c) read With 20 (b) (ii)(C) read With Of the Narcotic Drugs and PsychotrOPiC Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity tthe NDPS Act'). 2. The case Of the Prosecution iS that On 31.01.2025 on receipt Of credible informati-on regarding illegal possession and transportation of Ganja, the lPF/RPF] along With his Staff, While Checking at Platforms aS a part of Enforcement duties Caught three Persons and found 58.00 Kgs of ganja. The police Seized the COntraband along With Other material under the cover of mediators report and the accused were arrested and remanded them to juldicial custody. `\ 3. Mr. Sivaprasad Reddy Venati, the learned COunSel for the Petitioner contends that the petj`tioner is innocent of the alleged offence and has been _. 3 Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.7061 of 2025 Dated 31.07.2025 falsely implicated by the poll'ce. It is further submitted that the petitl-oner is the sole earning member of the faml-Iy and, therefore, his con{l-nued jncarceratjon would cause undue hardship to his dependents. The petitI-Oner undertakes to strI-Ctly adhere to any condI'tiOnS that may be I-mPOSed by thI|S Court. In light of the foregoing, learned counsel prays that the present petl'tion be allowed in the interest of justice. The learned counsel for the.petitioner further submits that the Accused Nos.1 and 3 were already enlarged on bail by this court in Crl.P.No.6181 of2025 w'de order dated o1.07.2025. 4. Perconfra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, the learned Assistant PublI'C Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the petitioner, submittI'ng that the investl-gation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. l{ is contended that if the petitioner is released on bail at thI'S 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, I't iS urged that the petition be dismissed. 5. As seen from the record, the petitioner/Accused No.2 was indulged in possession of 58.00 kgs of ganja. Although it is commercial quantity, the petitioner has been langul'shing in the jail since 31.01.2025 onwards. Nearly for the past 180 days he has been in the judicial custody. The investigating officer has not filed charge sheet I'n this Case. Material `portion of investigation is completed. All the wI-tneSSeS Of the prosecution are officI®al witnesses. Dr. YLI CrI.P.No.7061 of 20`± Dated 31.07.2O2S Hence, the question of pet'ltiOner influencing Or threatening the Witnesses Or hampering the investigation may not arise. 6. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there are nO ` adverse antecedents against the petitioner/Accused No.2 and no report was 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 and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 7. Section 36A(4) of lthe Act] states that 'lf the investigation iS not completed within 180 days, the petitioner/accused No.2 has an indefeas'lble right to bail, unless the special Court exten'ds the period up to one year On the report of the public Prosecutor, indicating the progress Of the inVeS{igat'lOn and specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 8. Considering the period Of detention undergone by the pet'ltioner/Accu=sed No.2 in judicial custody for the past 180 days, the nature and gravity of allegat|lon 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 conditions: i. The petitioner/Accused No.2 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 5 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.7061 of 2025 Dated 31.07.2025 the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned vl Additional Judicial Magistrate of First class Magistrate for Railway-Cum-VII Additional civI|l Judge Court, Visakhapatnam. ij. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned, on every saturday in between 10:00 am and o5.loo pm, till cognizance is taken by the learned the Trial Court. iii. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not leave the limits of the District without prior permission from the station House Officer COnCerned. iv. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not commit or indulge in COmmiSSI-On Of any Offence in future. v. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall cooperate with the investigating officer in further investigation of the case and shall make himself available for interrogation by the investigating officer as and when required. vi. The petI-tiOner/Accused No.2 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 offI-Cer. vii. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the investigating offI-Cer. lf he Claims that he does not v+i t Dr. YLR, ` CrI.P.No.7061 of 202S Dclted 31.07.2025 have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to`{he Investigating Officer. 9. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. Sd/-SHAIK MOHD. RAFl ASSISTAN //TRUE COPY// n. HE TRAR SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The VI Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class Magistrate for Railway Gum VII Additional Civil Judge Court, Visakhapatnam. 2. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Visakhapatnam. 3. The Station House Officer, Government Railway Police Station, Visakhapa{nam, VI'SakhaPatnam District 4. One CC to SRI. SIVAPRASAD REDDY VENATI Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of Andhra Pradesh [OUT] 6. One spare copy PSR HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED:31/07/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.7061 of 2025 ALLOWED