1 APHC010544972025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3521] WEDNESDAY,THE TWENTY NINETH DAY OF OCTOBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 10601/2025 Between: Karumanchi Surendra, and Others ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED(S) AND The State Of Andhra Pradesh ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused(S): 1. VINODIN RUTH MADAPALLI 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 BNSS’), seeking to enlarge the Petitioners/Accused No.1 to 3 on bail in Crime No.207 of 2025 of Tangutur Police Station, Prakasam District, was registered against the Petitioners/Accused No.1 to 3 herein for the offences punishable under Sections 338 and 316(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘the BNS’). 2 2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 3. The de facto complainants have lodged a report with the police stating that petitioner No.1/accused No.1 has been working with their tobacco companies, which have been operating for the past 30 years under the name and style of Pragathi Tobacco Traders India Private Limited and Sanjeeva Tobacco Traders, Tangutur Village and Mandal. Petitioner No.1/accused No.1 is employed as the Accountant-cum-Cashier in both companies. The de facto complainants alleged that nearly an amount of Rs.30 crores was transferred from the company accounts to the personal accounts of petitioner No.1/accused No.1, and petitioner Nos.2 and 3/accused Nos.2 and 3. It is alleged that the petitioners have committed criminal breach of trust and cheating. 4. It is an admitted fact that petitioner No.1/accused No.1 alone has been working as Accountant-cum-Cashier in the companies of the de facto complainants. It is alleged that petitioner No.1/accused No.1 forged the signatures of farmers on vouchers and fabricated data in the company records. It was discovered that an amount of Rs.17 crores was transferred to the personal account of petitioner No.1/accused No.1. Police custody was ordered, and the petitioners were taken into police custody on 23.09.2025. 3 5. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that, with the amounts obtained through cheating and criminal breach of trust, the petitioners have purchased certain valuable properties. The investigation is at a nascent stage, and only seven witnesses have been examined so far. The petitioners were arrested on 13.09.2025 and have been in judicial custody for the past 46 days. 6. However, petitioner No.2/accused No.2 is aged about 39 years and is a female. She is the wife of petitioner No.1/accused No.1 and she is not employed with the tobacco companies of the de facto complainants. Her account was allegedly used by petitioner No.1/accused No.1 for transferring the misappropriated funds. 7. Considering the nature and gravity of the allegations levelled against petitioner No.2/accused No.2, this Court is inclined to enlarge petitioner No.2/accused No.2 on bail. The request for grant of bail to petitioner Nos.1 and 3/accused Nos.1 and 3 is rejected at this stage. 8. In the result, the Criminal Petition is partly allowed by dismissing the request of petitioner Nos.1 and 3/accused Nos.1 and 3 while enlarging petitioner No.2/accused No.2 on bail, subject to the following stringent conditions: i. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 shall be enlarged on bail subject to she executing a bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees one lakh only), with two sureties each for the like sum 4 each to the satisfaction of the learned Judicial First Class Magistrate, Singarayakonda. ii. The petitioner No.2/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 is taken by the learned the Trial Court. iii. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 shall not leave the limits of the State of Andhra Pradesh without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned. iv. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future. v. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 shall cooperate with the investigating officer in further investigation of the case and shall make herself available for interrogation by the investigating officer as and when required. vi. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 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. vii. The petitioner No.2/accused No.2 shall surrender her passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If she claim that he do not have a passport, she shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating Officer. _________________________ DR. Y. LAKSHMANA RAO, J Date: 29.10.2025 S D P 5 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 10601 OF 2025 29.10.2025 S D P