V IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI S'- ? a I i ' r ihy FRIDAY, THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF MARCH, TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX :PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 1860 OF 2026 ■ii Hi. V' Between: Mareedu Nagaraju, S/o. Nageswararao, aged about 37 years, R/o. D.No. 2-73, East Yadavalli Village, Kamavarapukota Mandal, Eluru District. ...Petitioner/Accused No.2 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, through the S.H.O. Prohibition and Excise Station, Jangareddy gudem, represented by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. ... Respondent/Complainant Petition under Section 482 of BNSS/under Section 438 of Cr.P.C., 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/Accused No. 2 on bail in the event of his arrest in connection with Crime No.15 of 2026 dated 09.02.2026 Under Section 7 (b) r/w. 8 (b) of the A.P. Prohibition Act, 1995 of Prohibition & Excise, Police Station, Jangareddy Gudem. The petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the Petition and the grounds filed in support thereof and upon hearing the arguments of Sri Dasam Durga Shiva Sai, Advocate for the Petitioner and of Public Prosecutor for Respondent, the Court made the following 2 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE VENKATA JYOTHIRMAI PRATAPA CRIMINAL P-ETITION NO: 1860/2026 ORDER: The Criminal Petition has been filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNSS’) by the Petitioner/Accused No.2 for granting of pre-arrest bail in connection with Crime No. 15 of 2026 dated 09.02.2026 of Prohibition & Excise, Police Station, Jangareddy Gudem, registered for the alleged offences punishable under Section 7 (b) r/w. 8 (b) of the A.P. Prohibition Act, 1995. Heard Sri Dasam Durga Shiva Sai, learned Counsel for the petitioner 2. and Mrs.K.Priyanka Lakshmi,’learned Assistant Public Prosecutor on behalf of the State. The prosecution case, in brief, is that during the raid conducted by the 3. Prohibition and Excise Officials apprehended the accused No.1 while she was in possession of 2 liters of I.D.Liquor. The contraband was seized under the cover of mediators’ report. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner herein is 4. arrayed as Accused No.2 in the present crime and has been falsely implicated in the case. He would further submit that no contraband was seized from the petitioner and that he was never in possession of the alleged I.D. liquor. Except for the alleged confession statement of the co-accused, there is no other material available on record to connect the petitioner with the present crime. It is also submitted that the petitioner is the sole breadwinner of his 3 family and, in the event of his arrest, the family members who depend on him would be put to great hardship. Learned counsel further submits that the petitioner is ready to furnish sureties to the satisfaction of the Court and is willing to cooperate with the investigation. Therefore, he prays that this Court may be pleased to enlarge the petitioner on anticipatory bail. Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the petition and submitted that the investigation is still at a nascent stage, material evidence is yet to be secured and some more witnesses are yet to be examined. She would further submit that, at this stage, granting anticipatory bail may hamper the investigation. She would further submit that the Court may pass appropriate orders. 5. 6. Considering the submissions made and on perusal of the material placed on record, this Court is of the view that the case against the petitioner is mainly based on the confession statement of the co-accused and no contraband was seized from his possession. Though the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor opposed the petition stating that the investigation is at a nascent stage, this Court is inclined to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner by imposing appropriate conditions. 7. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following conditions: i. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall appear before the concerned Magistrate Court within a period of one (1) week from today and shall furnish personal bonds for Rs.20,000/- 4 (Rupees Twenty thousand only) with two sureties each for a like sum each to the sattsfaction of the concerned Court; On release, the petitioner/Accused No.2 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. II. II. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall make himself available for investigation as and when required and shall cooperate with the investigating Officer for further investigation. III. The petitioner/Accused No.2, shall not cause any threat inducement or promise to the prosecution witnesses; IV. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the Court concerned. If he claims that he does not have passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Court concerned. V. The petitioner/Accused No.2 shall furnish all information and produce any material documents relating to the present crime, if required, to facilitate and conclude the investigation. VI. In the event of violation of any of the above conditions, the prosecution 8. shall be at liberty to seek cancellation of bail. It is also made clear that the observations made in this order are only for 9. the purpose of deciding the bail application and they shall not be construed as opinion on the merits of the Crime. 5 As a sequel thereto, the miscellaneous applications, if any, pending in this Criminal Petition shall stand closed. SD/- IVf.SRINfVAS ASSISTANT REIGISTRAR /y<r SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// To. 1. The Station House Officer, gudem. One CC to Sri Dasam Durga Shiva Two CCs to Public Prosecutor. One spare copy. Prohibition and Excise Station Jangareddy 2. Sai, Advocate fOPUCJ High Court of AP, Amaravati. 3. fOUTJ 4. PSD HIGH COURT DR.VJP,J DATE:13/03/2026 ANTICIPATORY BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.1860 of 2026 ALLOWED