IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMAR/ TUESDAY, THE SECOND DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE .'PRESENT.I THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 7320 OF 2025 Between : MoI'deen KunhI' K, S/o Mohammed K, Age 32 years, R/o Rifahiyya Quarters, cherumba village, panayaI Post, Kasaragod District, Kerala State PetI-tI-OnerS/Accused No.1 AND The State of Andhra pradesh, Through station House Offl'cer, prohibition & Excise, yelamanchili Police StatI®On, Rep. by its publl-c prosecutor, High Court of Andhra pradesh, AmaravathI-, Cunt-ur District. Respondent/complal-nant petI-lion under Sections 480 & 483 of BNSS (Old SectI-OnS 437 & 439 of cr.p.c), praying that in the cI-rCumStanCeS Stated I-n the affidavit filed in support of the crI'minal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to release the petitioner on Bail I'n connection With Crl®me No. 21 of 2025 on the file of the ProhjbitI'On & ExcI-Se, Yelamanchili police station. The petj{jon coming on for hearing, upon perusing the peti{jon and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of M/s. BANDI PRAVEENA, Advocate for the petitI-Oner and of PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent and the court made the following; APHCO10353992025 lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATl (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3521] TUESDAY,THE SECOND DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO _CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 7320/2025_ Betwee n : MOIDEEN KUNHI K, K, S/O MOHAMMED K, AGE 32 YEARS, R/O RIFAHIYYA QUARTERS, CHERUMBA VILLAGE, PANAYAL POST, KASARAGOD DISTRICT, KERALA STATE ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED AND THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Through Station House OffI'Cer, Prohibition Excise, Yelamanchili Police Station, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAndhra Pradesh, Amaravathi, Guntur District. u.RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused: BANDI PRAVEENA Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filec! under sections 437 and 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1`~973 (for brevity fthe cr.p.c.')/ sections 480 and Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.7320 of 2025 Dclted 02.09.2025 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity fthe BNSS'), seeking to enlarge the pe{itI'Oner/Accused No.1 on bail in Cr.No.21 of 2025 of ProhI|bitiOn & Excise Station, Yelamanchili, AnakapallI' District, registered against the petitioner/Accused No.1 herein for the offences punishable under Section 8 (c) read with 20(b)(ii)(C), 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity [the NDPS Act'). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 19.02.2025 at 12:30 P.M., ata vacant spot on the left side of Dommuru RaJ-ugaaru Bojanam Hotel, on the road leading to NH-16 towards Chennai-Kolkata route, within the limits of KokkirapaIIi Village, Yelamanchili Mandal, Anakapalli DI-StrI'Ct, Accused Nos.1 and 2 were arrested while transporting 98 Kgs of ganja in a car bearing No. KL 14 Z 8008. The police seized the contraband, arrested the accused and remanded them to J'udiCial custody. 3. Ms.Bandi Praveena, the learned counsel forthe petitioner contends that the petitioner is innocent of the alleged offence and has been falsely implicated by the police. lt 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 petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this court. ln light of the foregoing submissions, learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of J-uStiCe. .... _ ` -` `.-. {`?,:-. Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.7320 of 2025 Dclted 02.09.2025 4. Per confra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, the 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. lt 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 submissions, it is urged that the petition be dismissed. 5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 6. As seen from the record, the petitioner/Accused No.1 was allegedly indulged in dealing w-lth 98 kgs of ganja, which is a commercial quantity. The petitioner has been languishing in jail since 19.02.2025. Nearly for the past 194 days he has been in judicial custody. The petitioner/Accused No.1 is a resident of Rifahiyya Quarters, Cherumba Village, Panayal Post, Kasaragod District, Kerala State. The materi;I portion of the investigation is completed. All the witnesses of the prosecution are official witnesses. Hence, the question of the petitioner influencing or threatening the witnesses or hampering the investigation may not arise. 7. The learnec! Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there are no adverse antecedents against the petitioner/Accusec! No.1 and no report was filed before the learned Court below by the learned Public Prosecutor `_`- `1-- Dr. YLR, I Crl.P.No.7320 of 2O25 Dated 02.O9.2025 concerned Seeking for extension lPeriOd 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. 8. Section 36A(4) and 37 of [the NDPS Act' states that if the investigation is hot completed within 180 days, the petitioner/Accused No.1 has an indefeasible right to bail, unless the Special Court extends the period up to One year On the report Of the Public Prosecutor, indicating the progress of the investigation and specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 9. Considering the period of detention undergone by the petitioner/Accused No.1 in judicial custody for the. past 194 days, the nature and gravity of allegati-ons 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.1 shall be enlarged Qn bail subject to he executing a bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only), with two sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Yellamanchili. ii. The petitioner/Accused No.1 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned on every saturday in between ¢ irrf --., +th**® Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.7320 of 2025 Dated O2.09.2025 10:00 am and 05:00 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 notcommitor indulge in commission of any offence in future. v. The pet-ltioner/Accused No.1 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; and vi. I 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. 10. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. . SD/-B.PRASAD RAO ASS]STA //TRUE COPY// SECTI I :#/R:EF: [STRAR To, 1. The Metropolitan Sessions Judge-Gum-I Additional District by Sessions I I I _ I___I__:_I _I ^££_____ I I_I+I_P Rlr`r|C} ^^+ -+ 2. TheAdditionaI Judicial First Class magI|Strate, YaIIamanchilli ~ 3. The Superintendent, central prison, visakhapatnam 4. The Station House Officer, prohibition & Excise, Yelamanchili Police ~-- Station 5. One CC to SRl, BANDI PRAVEENAAdvocate [opuc] 6. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAP [OUT] 7. One spare copy KJ - I_ l-I/ HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED :02/09/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.7320 of 2025 ALLOWED