IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI FRIDAY, THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF MARCH TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX iPRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 1851 OF 2026 % Between: 1. Ameer, S/o Subaida, Aged 43 years, R/o Hajarkath, Ariyallur, Vallikkunnu, Tirurangadi, Malappuram, State of Kerala. Pin. 676312. 2. Riyas T, S/o Kunhi Marakkar, Aged 41 years, R/o Thekkakath, Alungal Beach, Parppanangadi, Malappuram, Chettipadi, State of Kerala, pin. 676319. ...Petitioners/Accused No.1 & 2 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Judicature of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati. ...Respondent/Complainant Petition under Sections 460 & 483 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the memorandum of grounds filed in support of the Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to release the Petitioners/Accused No. 1 & 2 on bail in Crime No. 7 of 2026, On the file of the Visakhapatnam Railway Police Station. The Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and the memorandum of grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of SRI DASARI RAMAKOTESWAR RAO Advocate for the" Petitioners, and of PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, for the Respondent, the Court made the following 2 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO; 1851/2026 ORDER: This Criminal Petition, under Sections 480 and 483 of the BNSS, has been filed by the Petitioners herein/Accused Nos.1 & 2, seeking regular bail, in Crime No. 7 of 2026 of Visakhapatnam Railway P.S, Visakhapatnam registered for the offences punishable under Section 8(C) r/w 20(b)(ii)(B) of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (for short “NDPS Act”). 2. The case of the prosecution in brief, is that, on 08.01.2026 at 10.30 hours to 12.30 hours at Platform No.1 led end of Visakhapatnam Railway Station, the police have apprehended two persons while they were in possession and transporting 18 Kgs of Ganja. The police have seized the contraband under the cover of mediators’ report. 3. Heard Sri Dasari Ramakoteswar Rao, learned counsel for the petitioners/accused Nos.1 & 2 and Mrs.K.Priyanka Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor on behalf of the State. Learned counsel for the petitioners seeks to not press the petition for 4. petitioner No.2/Accused No.2, since regular bail has already been granted by this Court to the Accused No.2 in Crl.P.No.1983 of 2026 vide order dated 12.03.2026. Learned counsel for the petitioners would further submit that the petitioner No.1/accused No.1 has been falsely implicated in this crime and that he is in no way connected with the commission of the offence. The Petitioner 3 No.1/accused No.1 has been in judicial custody since 08.01.2026. The contraband involved in the present crime is 18 Kgs of Ganja, which is a non commercial quantity. It is further submitted that the statutory period is over and no report has been filed before the Trial Court till date. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this Hon’ble Court. 5. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor on behalf of the State vehemently opposed the petition and contended that the investigation is still pending and the contraband involved in the present case is 18 Kgs of Ganja. She would further submit that no report was filed before the learned Court below by the learned Public Prosecutor concerned seeking for extension period of judicial custody of the petitioner by indicating the progress of investigation and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. 6. Considering the submissions and upon keen perusal of the material placed on record and in the light of the facts and circumstances of the case, that the petitioner is in judicial custody since 08.01.2026, the fact that the contraband involved in the present crime is only 18 Kgs of Ganja, that the statutory period is over and no report has been filed before the Court, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner No.1/Accused No.1 on bail with the following conditions; i. The petitioner/accused No.1 shall execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs. 20,000/- (Rupees Twenty Thousand only) each with two 4 sureties for a like sum each, to the satisfaction of the learned VI Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Magistrate for Railways- cum-VI Additional Civil Judge Court, Visakhapatnam. The petitioner/accused No.1 shall appear before the Investigating II. Officer as and when required and shall cooperate with further investigation, if any. \ The petitioner/accused No.1 shall not directly or indirectly tamper with III. evidence nor influence, intimidate, or induce any prosecution witness. The petitioner/accused No.1 shall appear before the Station House IV. Officer, concerned, once in a week i.e., on every Saturday between 10.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. till filing of charge sheet. The petitioner/accused No.1 shall not commit or indulge in commission v. of any offence in future. The petitioner/accused No.1 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the VI. concerned Court. If he claims that he does not have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the concerned Court. 7. In the event of violation of any of the above conditions, the prosecution shall be at liberty to seek cancellation of bail. 8. It is also made clear that the observations made in this order are only for the purpose of deciding the bail application and they shall not be construed as opinion on the merits of the Crime. 5 Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is allowed in so far as the Accused No.1 is concerned. This Criminal Petition is dismissed as not pressed with 9. regard to the Accused No.2. As a sequel thereto, the miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in this Criminal Petition shall stand closed. Sd/-U.SRIDEVI DEPUTY REGISTRAR SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// For To, Class Magistrate for St 1. The VI Additional Judicial Magistrate of 1 Railways Cum VI Additional Civil Judge Court at Visakhapatnam. 2. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam District 3. The Station House Officer, Government Railway Police Station, Visakhapatnam District 4. OneCCto SRI. DASARI RAMAKOTESWAR RAO Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two CCS to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of Andhra Pradesh [OUT] 6. One spare copy PSR HIGH COURT DR.VJP.J DATED: 13/03/2026 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.1851 of 2026 ALLOWED