IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATl MONDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE of# :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RJ CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 9100 OF 2025 ..` / -ed Between : Abhinath Khemundu @ Abhi Khemundu, S/o. Chandra Sekhar Khemundu, aged about 29 years, R/o.Sarbajput, Hikimput, Koraput District, Odisha State. i ...Petitioner/Accused No.2 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. ...Respondent _B ., Petition under Section 437 & 439 of Cr.P.C and Section 480 & 483 of BNSS, is filed praying that in the c!-rcumstances stated in the grounds filed in support of the Criininal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.2 on bail pending disposal of Crime No.193/2O25 of Visakhapatnam Ral-Iway P.S., Visakhapatnam. The petition comI-ng On for hearing, upon Perusing the Petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of Sri GollapaIIi Maheswara Rao, Advocate for the Petitioner and of Public Prosecutor for Respondent, the court made the following # /' E=Z= APHCO10458242025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATl (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY,THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 9100 of 2025 [3521] Between : 1.ABHINATH KHEMUNDU ALIAS ABHI KHEMUNDU, S/O. CHANDRA SEKHAR KHEMUNDU, AGED ABOUT 29 YEARS, R/O. SARBAJPUT, HIKIMPUT, KORAPUT DISTRICT, ODISHA STATE. ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED AND 1.THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. I..RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused: 1. GOLLAPALLI MAHESWARA RAO Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Sections 480 and 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity {the BNSSJ), seeking to enlarge the Petitioner/Accusecl No.2 on bail in Crime No.193 of 2025 of I, visakhapatnam Railway Police Station, Visakhapatnam, registered against the petitioner/Accused No.2 herein for the offence punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(B), read with 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity lthe NDPS Act'). CASE OF THE PROSECUTION: 2. Material averments stemming from the Prosecution are that On o2.06.2025 on receipt of credible information, the Police along with panchayatdars proceeded to Marripalem PH, Platform No.1 end of visakhapatnam and noticed one person with a bag suspiciously. On seeing the police, he was tried {o escape. The Police apprehended the Accused. During investigation, Accused No.1 gave his address and seized 12 Kgs of ganja under cover of mediators report. Basing on the confession Of the Accused No.1, the case was registered. CONTENTIONS OF THE COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONER: 3. Sri G.Maheswara Rao, learned Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the petitioner is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the alleged offence, without any cogent evidence linking him to the commission of the crime. It is contended that the Petitioner is the sole breadwinner Of his family P and his arrest would cause undue hardship and Prejudice tO h'lS dependents. The Petitioner und.ertakes to abide by any condition that this Court may impose while granting bail to the Petitioner. 4. It is further submI|tted that the Petitioner has a permanent place of residence and there is no likelihood of him absconding or evading the process of law. The Petitioner has cooperated with the investigatI'On thus far and assures continued cooperation in future proceedings. lt is also urged that the allegations are of a nature that do not warrant further custodial detention, and -`--, ' if any condI'tiOn iS imposed While granting the bail, Petitioner would not violate it; and it is urged to allow the Petition. ARGUMENTS OF THE STATE: 5. Per confra, Ms. P. Akhila Naidu, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor strenuously opposed the grant of bail, contending that the investigation is still underway and several material wI'tneSSeS are tO be examined. lt iS Submitted that ehlargement of the Petitioner on bail a{ this stage would seriously hamper the progress of the investigation and nlay result in non-cooperation from the Petitioner. The prosecution further apprehends that the petitioner, if released, may influence or intimidate witnesses, thereby obstructing the course of justice. l{ is also urged that there exI'StS a real and imminent risk of the Petitioner absconding and evading the due process of law. Given the gravity of the allegations and the potential threat to the progress of the investigation, it is submitted that the PetitI'Oner does not deserve the discretionary relief Of bailand it is urged {o dismiss the bail pe{i{ion. 6. Thoughtful consideration is bestowed on the arguments acivancecl by the learnec! Counsel for both sides. i have perusecl the entire record. RATI ON POINT FOR CONSIDE 7. ln the light of the case of the prosecution and the contentions of the learned counsel for both the sI'deSj now the pot-n{ for consideratI-On iS.- "Whether the petitioner is entitled for grant of bail?" 8. On careful perusal of the record, l't reveals that the petitioner/ Accused No.2 along with other Accused had allegedly I'ndulged in dealt-ng with 21.8 Kgs of ganja. The Petitioner was attributed to have been indulged jn dealing with 12 Kgs of ganja. lt is not a commercial quantity. The Petl-tionler was arrested on 21.08.2025 and he has been in judI|Cial Custody for the past 20 days. The pe{itl'oner I'S Permanent resident of Sarbajput, Hikimput, Koraput Distrjc{, odisha state. Material portion of the inves{igatI-On iS completed. A" the wI'tneSSeS are officI[al Witnesses. Therefore, the petjtjoner chances of tampering the evidence or hampering the investigation may not arise. CONCLUSION 9. Considering the nature and gravity of allegation levelled agaI'nSt the petitioner, his alleged role played in this case, and the period of detention undergone by the petitI'Oner, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail wl'th the following stringent conditions.- i. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall be enlarged on bail subject to his executing a bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees € ---= -i~' ._ . -_____:_I-_¥ twenty five thousand only), with two sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfactI-On Of the learned VI Additional Judicial ' Magistrate of I Class for Railways-Gum-vl AddI|tiOnaI CI'ViI Judge, Visakhapatnam. ii. The PetitI-Oner/Accused No.2 shall appear before the Station House OffI'Cer, Visakhapatnam Railway PolI'Ce Station, on every Saturday I|n between 10:00 am and o5:OO 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 comml't or indulge in commission of any offence I'n future. v. The PetitI'Oner/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 offI-Cer aS and When required. vI'. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall not, directly or l'ndirectly, make any I-nduCement, 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. \ vii. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall surrender h-ls Passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If he cla-lm that he do not have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating Officer. 10. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. SD/- K.J.RAJA BABU //TRUE COPY// I ```l . To, 1. The VI Additional Judicial Magistrate of I class Magistrate for Railways- /y Gum-VI AdditI'OnaI Civl'l Judge Court, Visakhapatnam, vI|SakhaPatnam District. 2. The Superintendent, central JaI'l, Vl-sakhapatnam, visakhapatnam Dl-strict. # 3. The Station House Offl-cer, Visakhapatnam Railway Police Station, r Visakhapatnam. 4. One CC to Sri Gollapalli Maheswara Rao, Advocate [OPUC] r7 5. Two CCs toPUBLl6 PROSECUTOR, HI'gh Court of A.P.,r~ Amaravati.[OUT] 6. One spare copy. PSD . \ I i \_` HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATE: 15/09/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.9100 of 2025 ALLOWED