IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATHl^^^^t FRIDAY, THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF MARCH, TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 1812 OF 2026 Between: Challagalla Kanna, S/o. Late Ranganaikulu, aged about 31 years, R/o. D.No.8-17-70/1, Near Satyanarayana Talkies Railway Station Backside, Giddalur Town, Giddalur Mandal, Prakasam District. ...Petitioner/Accused No.4 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh. ...Respondent Petition under Section 437 & 439 of Cr.P.C and Section 480 & 483 of BNSS, 2023 is filed praying that in the circumstances stated in memorandum of grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.4 on bail pending disposal of Crime No.205/2024 of IV Town P.S., Visakhapatnam District; The petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and memorandum of grounds and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Gollapalli Maheswara Rao, Advocate for the Petitioner and Public Prosecutor for the Respondent, the Court made the following; 2 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL P-ETITION NO: 1812/2026 ORDER: This Criminal Petition, under Sections 480 and 483 of the BNSS, has been filed by the Petitioner herein/Accused No.4, seeking regular bail, in Crime No.205/2024 of IV Town P.S., Visakhapatnam District, registered for the offences punishable under Section 20 (b)(ii)(C) r/w 8(c) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (for short “NDPS Act”). Case of the Prosecution, in brief, is that, on 20.08.2024, between 09.30 2. hours and 11.30 hours, on receipt of credible information, the Woman Sub- Inspector of Police, IV Town Police Station, Visakhapatnam City, along with her staff and mediators, proceeded to behind Srinivasa Kalyana Mandapam, Railway Station, Visakhapatnam city, found A1 and A2 in possession of 22 Kgs of Ganja. They confessed about the involvement of other accused in the present crime. The contraband was seized under cover of a mediators report and a case has been registered against the accused. Heard Sri Gollapalli Maheswara Rao, learned counsel for the 3. petitioner/accused No.4 and Mrs.K.Priyanka Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor on behalf of the State. The Learned counsel for the Petitioner/Accused No.4 would submit 4. that the petitioner was falsely implicated in this crime on the confession of other accused. The petitioner has not committed any offence and he is 3 innocent. He is the sole breadwinner of his family. It is further submit that most of the investigation might have been completed and therefore the petitioner/accused No.4 may be enlarged on bail. The accused No.6 was released on bail on 28.02.2025 in Crl.P.No.1646 of 2025 by a Coordinate Bench of this Court. The petitioner was arrested on 09.02.2026 and since then he has been in judicial custody. He would further submit that the petitioner herein is also on the same footing as of the accused No.6. Learned counsel would finally pray to enlarge the Petitioner on bail. 5. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor opposed for granting bail and Court may pass appropriate Orders. 6. On perusal of the material on record goes to show that basing on the confessional statement of co-accused, the name of the petitioner herein was shown as accused in the present crime. Pursuant to the confessional statement of the co-accused, nothing has been seized from the possession of the petitioner herein/accused No.4. The petitioner was arrested on 09.02.2026. The learned Single Judge of this Court in Crl.P.No.1646 of 2025 on 28.02.2025 enlarged accused No.6 on bail with certain conditions. The petitioner also stands on the same footing of accused No.6. 7. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and gravity of allegations leveled against the Petitioner/Accused No.4, this Court is inclined to enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.4 on bail. 4 8. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following stringent conditions; i. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 shall be enlarged on bail on 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 I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. ii. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future. iii. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 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. iv. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 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. V. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the concerned Court. If he claim that he do not have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the concerned Court. 5 Vi. The Petitioner/Accused No.4 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned once in a week i.e., on every Saturday between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm. till filing of charge sheet. As a sequel thereto, the miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in this Criminal Petition shall stand closed. SD/- IVS.SRiNiVAS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR /><- SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// Fo. To, 1. The I Additional District & Sessions Judge cum - Special Judge for Trial of Offences under NDPS Act, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District. 2. The I Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. 3. The Superintendent, Central Jail, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District. 4. The Station House Officer, IV Town P.S., Visakhapatnam District. 5. One CC to Sri. Gollapalli Maheswara Rao, Advocate [OPUC] 6. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court of AP [OUT] 7. One spare copy HIGH COURT Dr.VJP.J DATED: 13/03/2026 ORDER CRLP.No.1812 of 2026 ALLOWED