• <' /. \ lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMAR TUESDAY, THE TWELFTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO =`:,yt:.`cr*{,`.`;:Jf~; CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 7919 OF 2025 Between |I Sm{ G Laxmi, W/o Mallikarjuna RaO, aged 52 years, R/o Flat No.222, Sai Sukha Vishta/Emerald Block, Street No.8, Green Hill Colony, Hubsiguda, Secunderabad. Petitioner/Accused-10 AND The State of Anghra Pradesh, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of A.P., at Amaravathi. Respondent petition under sections 482 of BNSS (old 438 of Cr.P.C), praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to direct the S.H.O., P.S. Prohibition and Excise Station, Palakole, West Godavari District, to enlarge the Petitioner on bail in the event of arrest in Crime No.44/2025 and pass such other order or orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. The Petitioner is prepared to abide by the conditions imposed by this Honble Court and the Petitioner is prepared to furnish the sureties to the satisfaction as ordered by this HonJble Court. The petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing `the petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of smt. PADMAJA KATTUNGA, Advocate for the petitioner and of PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent and the Court made the following; Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.7919 of 2025 Dated 12.08.2025 The Court made the following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik SurakSha Sanhitt1, 2023 (for brevity [the BNSS') by the petit-loner/Accused No.10 for granting of Pre-arrest bail in connection with crime No.44 of 2025 of Prohibition & Exc-lse Stat'lon, Palakole, West Godavari District; registered for the alleged offences punishable under E! sections 34 (1 ) (ii)i`(2) read with 34 (a) (h) of Andhra Pradesh Excise Act, t| 1968. 2. The case of the Prosecution iS that On 23-06-2025, at about ll:55 P.M., based on credible information received from the District Excise Officer, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema Distr'lct, and the Assistant Commissioner of Proh-lbition & Excise Enforcement, Kakinada, a spurious liquor manufacturing case was registered in Amalapuram prohibit®lon & Excise Station. Investigation revealed Similar activity in palakole Town under the Supervision Of the Deputy Commissioner of prohibition & Excise, Eluru, Ruttala Srin®lvas @ Kalam, who, along with associates, procured spirit and labels from Hyderabad for profit. In May `- 2025, Borra Satya A`pstparao introduced Pilla Srinivas @ Venkanna to sell spurious liquor in Amalapuram. They prepared 40 boxes (44 bottles of Dr. YLR, I Crl.P.No.7919 of 2025 Dated 12.O8.2025 -I+180 ml each) using bottles, caramel, flavouring agents, caps, and labels received via APSRTC Cargo, with a production cost of Rs.60/-per bottle and sold at Rs.70/-, thereby making a profit of Rs.10/-per bottle. As the liquor quality was substandard, some bottles remained unsold. In June 2025,100 litres of spirit were sent via RTC Cargo ahd used to prepare 8 boxes of dupll-Gate Act Black liquor, whI-Ch Were distributed among Borra Satya Apparao, Nurukurfhi Srinivasarao @ Yanam Sri,nu, and Pilla Srinivas @ Venkamna. A leftover stock of 30 _litres of spirit was found. 5_ The accused were id,entified as partners in the racket, sourcing materials from Ruttala Srinivas @ Kalam in Hyderabad. Statements were recorded in the presence of mediators, the accused were arrested, the articles were seized, and liquor samples were sent for chemical analysis. 3. Smt. Padmaja Kattunga, the learned counsel for the petitioner, contends that the petitioner is a lady, she is innocent of the alleged offence, and has been falsely implicated by the police. lt is further submitted that Accused No.1 is a partnership firm and that M/s Krishna Pharma has not been arrayed as one of the accused` The learned counsel submits that the petitioner is ready to abI-de by any conditions that may be imposed by this Court and, therefore, prays for grant of pre- arrest bail to the petj{ioner. GSZ ;` 4 Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.7919 of 2025 Dated 12.08.2025 .-'4. Per cot,fro, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner, submitting that the investigation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. It is contended that if the petitioner is released on pre-arrest bail, there is a strong likelihood that she may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law, and urged {o dismiss the petition. 5. Heard the jaarned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Pro'`§ecutor. Perused the record. 6. As seen from.the record, there are no specific overt acts attributed against the petitioner. She has only 10% of the shares in the business of Accused No.9, who is her husband. Accused No.9 was already enlarged on regular bail. The petitioner is the sleeping partner of the firm. It appears that she has not taken any active role in the business, being the wife of Accused No.9. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor fairly conceded that there are no adverse antecedents reported against the petitioner. The allegation agaI|nSt the Other accused iS that they Supplied ethanol to Accused Nos.1 to 5. 7. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the gravity and nature of the allegations leveled against the petitioner, the alleged Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.7919 of 2025 Dclted 12.08.2025 I role played by her in this case, this court deems it fit to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner. 8. ln the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following conditI-OnS: i. ln the event of her arrest, the petitioner/Accused No.10 shall be enlarged on bail subject to she executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty i Thousand o`nly), with two sureties for the like sum each to \| the satisfaction of the arresting police officials; ii. The petitione+/Accused No.10 shall make herself available for investigation as and when required; iii. The petitioner/Accused No.10 shall not cause any threat, inducement or promise {o the prosecution witnesses; iv. The petitioner/Accused No.10 shall appear beforethe Station House Officer concerned once in a week i.e., on every Saturday between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m., till filing of the charge stleet. FZS-I---. 6 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.7919 of 2025 Dated 12.08.2023 v. The petitioner/Accused No.10 shall not leave the dI|S{riCt limits without the express permission from the Station House Officer concerned. vi. The petl-tioner/Accused No.10 shall surrender her passport, if any, {o the I-nVeStI'gatI-ng OffI'Cer. If she claims that she does not have a passport, she shall submit an affidavit Sd/-N. NAGAMMA ASSISTANT STRAR //TRUE COPY// fl-E SECTION OFFICER For To, 1. The Station House Officer, p.s. prohibl-lion and ExcI'Se Station, Palakole, west Godavari District 2. One CC to Smt. PADMAJA KATTUNGA Advocate [opuc] 3. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAP [OUT] 4. One spare copy KJ <``- r`` i-. -3~+.=iI=.T`. -I `-`=\.I+-.... I.`. _-t-. T. <,.."'*h-' |t. |t a * I- _. I \ \ ` + . `_-` *,. * b * . HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED:12/08/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.7919 of 2025 ALLOWED