lN THE H'lGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI THURSDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DA.Y OF AUGUST, TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE :PRESENT': THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA'RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 8489 OF 2025 Between : Killo Chiranjeevi @ Raju, S/o Latchanna, Age 37 years, R/o Pedaburuguputtu village, Hukumpeta Mandal, ASR District Petitioner/Accused No.2 AND The State of A.P., Represented by its public Prosecutor, High Court of AP, Amaravathi Through Station House Officer, Ramabhadrapuram Police Station, Vizianagaram District. Respondent Petition under Section 480 & 483 of BNSS., is filed praying that in the circumstances stated I-n the grounds filed in Support Of the Petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitI-Oner/Accused on Regular bail in Crime No.121/2019 dated 17.06.2019 on the file of Ramabhadrapuram police station, Vizianagaram city and District. The petl'tion coming on for hearing, upon perusing the petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of sri. s SRINIVASA RAO, Advocate for the petitioner and of PUBLIC PROSECUTOR for the Respondent; The Court made the following ORDER.I Dr. YLR, I CrI.P.No.8489 of 2025 Dated 21.08.2O25 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 brevity [the Cr.P.C.I)/ Sections 480 and 483 of the Bhara{iya N,agarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity [the BNSS'), seeking to enlarge the petitioner/Accused _No.2 ton bail in Cr.N'o.121 of 2019 of Ramabhadrapuram Police Station, Vizianagaram District, registered against the petitioner/Accused No.2 herein for the offences punishable under Section 20 (b) (ii)(C) read with 8 (c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity lthe NDPS Actl). 2. The case of the prosecution is that on 17.06.2019, on receipt of credible information regarding illegal possession and transportation of ganja, the Sub-Inspector of Police, Ramabhadrapuram Police Station, along with his staff and mediators, rushed to NH-26 road near Kakarlavalasa road junction, Ramabhadrapuram Mandal and conducted vehicle checking. The police found one Eicher van bearing No. AP 31 Y o243 coming from Salur side and proceeding towards R.B. Puram side. The police I'nterCe_9teLg the Van and found two Persons in the Cabin, and on further checking, they found a specially designed box in the body of the van Dr. YLR, I Crl.P.No.8489 of 2025 Dated 21.08.2025 containing 35 packets wrapped wit:I brown colour tape weighing' about 139.88 Kgs of ganja and 66 packets in white plastic covers with flower design weighing about 126.7 Kgs of ganja. In the meanwhile, the driver of the van escaped from' there. The police caught hold of Accused No.1 and | seized a total of 267 Kgs of ganja under the cover of the mediatorsJ report. 3. Sri S.Srinivasa Rao, the learned counsel for the petitioner contends that`the petitioner is I|nnOCent 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 woiIId cause undue hardship to his dependents, The. petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any cond'ltions that may be imposed by this Court. In light of the foregoing submissions, learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of justice. 4. Per confra, Ms.P.AkhiI'a 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. It is contended that I'f the Petitioner iS released on bail at this stage, there I|S 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. Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.8489 of 2025 Dated 21.O8.2025 5. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 6. As seen from the record, the allegation 'against the petitioner/Accused No.2 is that he was the driver of the vehjcle'in which 267 Kgs of ganja was transported. The vehicle is an Eicher van. The petitioner was arrested on 20.02.2025 and has been in judicial custody for the `past 180 days. The alleged offence occurred on 17.06.2019 in Cr.No.121 of 2019. All the remaining accused has already been released on bail. The petitioner/Accused No.2 is a resident of Pedaburuguputtu Village, Hukumpeta MandaI, ASR District. The material portion of the investigation is coinpleted. 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 learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there are no adverse antecedent 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 petitio-ner upto one year by indicating the progress of investigation and the specI'fiC reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 8. Section 36A(4) of fthe NDPS Act' states that if the investigation is not completed within 180 days, the `petitioner/Accused No.2 has an . 5 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.8489 of 2025 Dated 21.08.2025 indefeasible right to bail, unless the Special Cour.I extends the period up to one year on the report of the Public Prosecutor, I'ndiCating 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.2 in judicial custody for the past 180 days, the nature and gravity of allegation levelled against the petI'tI'Oner, and his alleged role played in the case, this court is inclined to enlarge the Petitioner On bail with the following stringent conditions.I l|. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall be enlarged on baI'l 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 Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Salur. ii. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned on every saturday in between 10:00 am and 05.-00 pm, till cognizance I'S taken by the learned the Trial Court. iji. The petitioner/Accusec! No.2 shall not leave the limits of I the District without prior permission from the station House Officer concerned. `-5quTfT-a-±,-., Dr. YLR, J CrI.P.No.8489 of 2025 Dated 21.08.2O25 iv. The petitioner/Accused No,2 shall not commit Or indulge in comm|lssion of any offence in future. v. The pet|ltioner/Accused No.2 Shall cooperate vyith 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 petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not, directly or ind'lrectly, 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. //TRUE COPY// ASSISTASNDT/-RUFdiEAVE SECTION OFFICER To] 1. The Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Sa]ur. 2. The Special Judge for Tr'lal of Cases under NDPS Act Gum I Additional Sess'lons Judge, Vizianagaram. 3. The Superintendent, Sub Jail, Srikakulam. 4. The Slat-Ion House Officer, Ramabhadrapuram Police station, vizianagaram C'lty and District. 5. One CC to Sri. S SRINIVASA RAO, Advocate [OPUC] 6. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. [OUT] -£S p H#.~fr `--\--.`..-. '.'.`.*q'`*(,-*=\ HIGH COURT DR.YLR, J DATED:21/08/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.8489 of 2025 ALLOWED