1 APHC010013032026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3396] MONDAY,THE NINETEENTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 216/2026 Between: 1. MANDAPATI VENKATA JAGANNADHA SUBRAHMANYAN RAJU,, S/O SATYANARAYANA RAJU, AGED ABOUT 40 YEARS, R/O D.NO. 25-2-244/3/2 OFFICIAL COLONY, SRI NAGAR, GAJUWAKA, VISAKHAPATNAM ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED AND 1. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, REP.BY THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR,THROUGH SHO, GAJUWAKA POLICE STATION,WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT. ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused: 1. T V JAGGI REDDY Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: 2 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 216 OF 2026 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.536 of 2025 of Gajuwaka Police Station, Visakhapatnam City, registered against the Petitioner/Accused No.1 herein for the offence punishable under Sections 143(3), 144(2) read with 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and Sections 3(1), 4(1) and 5(1) (a) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. 2. Heard Mr. T.V.Jaggi Reddy, the learned Counsel for the Petitioner and Ms. K. Priyanka Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. 3. The case of the prosecution, in brief, is that on 04.12.2025, the Inspector of Police, Gajuwaka Police Station, received information about prostitution and, after obtaining proceedings from the Commissioner of Police, secured the presence of mediators and staff and proceeded to the 5th Floor of Modalavalasa Vinay Kumar Complex, 80 Feet Road, Old Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam. There, they found two male persons at the reception. Adjacent to the reception, there was a room, upon opening the door, they found two women and a male person present without clothes. The Inspector of Police enquired with them, during which they disclosed their names as 3 accused Nos.1 to 3, being the organiser, manager, and customer respectively. Based on the mediators’ report, the present crime was registered. 4. Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner herein is accused No.1 and is facing allegations for the offences punishable under Sections 143(3) and 144(2) read with Section 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Sections 3(1), 4(1), and 5(1)(a) of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956. The learned counsel would further submit that the other accused were released on station bail and that the petitioner has been in judicial custody since 04.12.2025. It is further submitted that the petitioner’s bail application was dismissed by the learned trial Court on the ground that the investigation was in progress for want of medical reports. The learned counsel would submit that the investigation has been completed and the charge sheet has also been filed. It is further submitted that the petitioner is ready to furnish sufficient sureties to the satisfaction of the learned Trial Court to secure his presence for the purpose of trial. 5. Ms. K. Priyanka Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor, would submit that the investigation in this matter has been completed and the charge sheet has also been filed and is pending consideration before the concerned Court. 6. Considering the submissions made, upon perusal of the material on record, and taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case, 4 particularly in view of the fact that the investigation is completed and the charge sheet has been filed, the question of tampering with evidence does not arise. In that view of the matter, this Court is inclined to allow the present petition, subject to the following stringent conditions: i. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall be enlarged on bail subject to his executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) with two sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned III Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate at Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam. ii. The Petitioner/ Accused No.1 shall appear before the learned trial Court on every adjournment without fail. 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 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. 7. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed. ___________________________________ DR.VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA, J Date: 19.01.2026 S D P 5 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 216 OF 2026 19.01.2026 S D P