I /* IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVA-^lgRKS=, THURSDAY, THE TWENTY EIGHTH DAY OF AUGU TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE iPRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 8510 OF 2025 1 Sr s\ V ;« Between: Balagam Rama Lakshmi, W/o B.Nagaraju, Aged 28 Musthakanpeta, Now residing at PKM Colony, Machilipatnam, Krishna District. years, R/o i ...Petitioner/Accused No.6 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Judicature of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati. ...Respondent/Complainant Petition under Section 480 & 483 of BNSS, is filed praying that in the circumstances stated in the grounds filed in support of the Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to release the Petitioner/Accused No.6 on bail in Crime No.145 of 2025, on the file of the Chilakalapudi Police Station Machilipatnam. 1 4 The petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Shaik Afzal Mohammed, Advocate for the Petitioner and of Public Respondent, the Court made the following Prosecutor for 2 ORDER: This Criminal Petition has been filed under Sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, seeking to enlarge the petitioner- accused No. 6 on bail in crime No. 145 of 2025 of Chilakalapudi (U) Police Station, Krishna District, registered for the offences punishable under Sections 20 (b) (ii) (B) and 29 (1) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for short, 'the NDPS Act'). Case of the prosecution is that on 28-07-2025 at about 11 hours reliable information, the Sub Inspector of Police along with his staff and mediators reached near Red Pitch, Machavaram Mettu, Machilipatnam, and caught hold accused No. 1 and nine others while they were in possession of 6.225 K.Gs. of Ganja. Thereafter, the Sub Inspector of Police seized the contraband which is worth of Rs. 12,000/- and four cell phones, arrested the accused and remanded them to judicial custody. 2. on Sri Shaik Afzal Mohammed, learned counsel for the petitioner, contends that the petitioner is innocent of the alleged offence and has been falsely implicated by the police.- It is further submitted that the petitioner is the sole earning member of her family and, therefore, her continued incarceration 3. would cause undue hardship to her dependents. The petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this Court. In light of the foregoing, learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of justice. 3 Per contra, Ms. Akhila Naidu, 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. It is contended that if the petitioner is released on bail at this stage, there is a strong likelihood that she may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law. In view of the foregoing, it is urged that the petition be dismissed. 4. Thoughtful consideration is bestowed on the arguments of the learned 5. counsel for the petitioner and learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 6. As seen from the record, the petitioner-accused No. 6 was arrested on 29-07-2025 and she has been in judicial custody for the past 31 days. The allegation against the petitioner is that she was indulged in dealing with 6.225 K.Gs. of Ganja which is not a commercial quantity. Although learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there is one adverse antecedent against the petitioner which was registered under the provisionsof ‘the NDPS Act’, that itself is not a ground to deny the request of learned counsel for the petitioner for the reason that the petitioner is presumed to be innocent till the guilt is proved. The petitioner is a female and permanent resident of Machilipatnam, Krishna District, and she has fixed abode. Material witnesses have been examined. All the witnesses are official witnesses. Major portion of the investigation is completed. Hence, the chances of the petitioner 4 threatening the witnesses or tampering the evidence or hampering the investigation may not arise. 7. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and the nature and gravity of the allegations levelled against the petitioner, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner-accused No. 6 on bail with the following stringent conditions: (i) The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall be enlarged on bail subject to her executing a bond for a sum of Rs. 10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only) with two sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of learned II Additional Judicial Magistrate of I Class Machilipatnam; (ii) The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned on every Saturday in between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. till cognizance is taken by the learned Trial Court; (iii) The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall not leave the limits of the district without prior permission from the investigating officer; (iv) The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future; The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall cooperate with the (V) investigating officer in further investigation of the case and shall 5 make herself available for interrogation by the investigating officer as and when required; (Vi) The petitioner-accused No. 6 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; and (vii) The petitioner-accused No. 6 shall surrender her passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If she claims that she does not have passport, she shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the investigating officer. 8. The criminal petition is accordingly allowed. SD/- G.HELANAIDU ASSISTAN^EGtSTRAR SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// To, 1. The II Additional First Class Judicial Magistrate at Machilipatnam. 2. The Superintendent, Sub-Jail, Machilipatnam. 3. The Station House Officer, Chilakalapudi Police Station, Machilipatnam. 4. One CC to Sri Shaik Afz^l Mohammed, Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two , CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of A.P. Amaravati.[OUT] 6. One spare copy. PSD HIGH COURT DR.YLR.J DATE:28/08/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.851 Oof 2025 ALLOWED