•■■}:•’\‘r'; IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATIf® .-TJ-’ •ri;' ;. X.-. >; ,;l: i MONDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE iPRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 11494 OF 2025 ) ■sir f^z~- r '■ Between: Meriga Praveen @ Chintu, S/o. Srinivasulu, Aged about 24 years, R/o. Tekkemitta, Nellore, SPSR Nellore District. ...Petitioner/Accused No.1 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, through the Station House Officer Dargamitta Police Station, Rep. by Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, At Amaravathi. I ... Respondent/Respondent 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 enlarge the Petitioner on bail who is Accused No.1 in Crime.No.164/2025, dated 05.09.2025 on the file of Dargamitta P.S., SPSR Nellore District. j The petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Malireddy Gowtham, Advocate for the Petitioner and of Public Prosecutor for Respondent, the Court made the following 2 Dr. YLR,J Crl.RNo.11494 of 2025 Dated 17.11.2025 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 Petitioner/Accused No.1 on bail in Crime No. 164 of 2025 of Dargamitta Police Station, S.P.S.R Nellore District, registered against the Petitioner/Accused No.1 herein for the offences punishable under Sections 8(c) read with 20(b)(ii)(B) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity ‘the NDPS Act’). Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 2. As seen from the record, this Court, in Crl.P.No.10812 of 2025, vide order dated 24.10.2025, dismissed the first bail application on the ground that only two witnesses had been examined and the F.S.L. report was awaited. Another reason was that the investigation was at a nascent stage. The first bail application was dismissed on the 48**^ day of the judicial custody of the petitioner. This is the renewed regular bail application. The allegation against the Petitioner/Accused No.1 is that he was found in possession of 1.5 kgs of Ganja, while the other accused was also found in possession of 1.5 kgs of Ganja. Altogether, the total quantity is 3.00 kgs, which is not a commercial quantity. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that now three witnesses have been examined. The petitioner is a rowdy-sheeter and has 18 3. 3 Dr.YLR.J Crl.RNo.11494 of 2025 Dated 17.11.2025 antecedents. However, the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that out of the 18 cases, 10 cases ended in acquittal. Be that as it may, the Petitioner/Accused No.1 is presumed to be innocent until the guilt is proved. The Hon’ble Apex Court in Prabhakar Tewari v. State of Uttar Pradesh ^, at para No.7, observed that mere pendency of criminal antecedents itself is not a ground to deny the request for grant of bail. 4. The petitioner has been in judicial custody for the past 72 days. He has got fixed abode. If he is enlarged on bail, he may not evade the process of law. If certain stringent conditions are imposed for enlarging him on bail, no prejudice would be caused to the investigation. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and 5. 6. gravity of allegations levelled against the Petitioner/Accused No.1, this Court is inclined to enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.1 on bail. 7. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following stringent conditions: i. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall be enlarged on bail subject to he executing bond for a sum of Rs.20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only), with two sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned V Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nellore SPSR Nellore District. (2020) 11 see 648 4 Dr.YLR.J Crl.PNo.11494 of 2025 Dated 17.11.2025 ii. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall appear before the Investigation Officer, on every Saturday in between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm, till the conclusion of the trial, iii. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall not leave the limits of the State of Andhra Pradesh without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned. iv. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future. V. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall cooperate with 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.1 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. If any of the conditions are violated, the Investigation Officer is at liberty to approach this Court seeking for cancellation of bail. SD/- G.HELANAIDU DEPUTYpgG^STRAR SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// To, 1. The V Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Nellore, SPSR Nellore District. 2. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Nellore. 3. The Station House Officer, Dargamitta Police Station, SPSR Nellore District. 4. One CC to Sri Malireddy Gowtham, 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:17/11/2025 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.11494 of 2025 ALLOWED