APHC010221252025 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3521] THURSDAY,THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 4813/2025 Between: V.BALAJI,, S/O. V.ASHOK, AGED 26 YEARS, R/O. APPAIAHPALEM VILLAGE, SATHYAVEDU MANDAL, TIRUPATI DISTRICT. ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED No.2 AND 1. THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, REPRESENTED BY ITS PUBLIC PROSECUTOR. HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI, HIGH COURT BUILDINGS AT NELAPADU, AMARAVATI, GUNTUR DISTRICT. 2. SMT S MANJULA, W/O. S.VENKATESH, AGED 41 YEARS, R/O. APPAIAHPALEM VILLAGE, SATHYAVEDU MANDAL, TIRUPATI DISTRICT. (DE-FACTO COMPLAINANT) ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT(S): Counsel for the Petitioner/accused: V VINOD K REDDY Counsel for the Respondent/complainant(S): 1. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR 2. P VENKATA RAMA SARMA 2 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 The Court made the following: 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.46 of 2025 of Sri City Police Station, Tirupati District, registered for the alleged offence punishable under Section 118 (1) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNS’). 2. Mr.V.Vinod K.Reddy, the learned Counsel for the Petitioner, submits that the Petitioner is innocent of the alleged offence and he has been falsely implicated in the alleged offence, without any cogent evidence linking him to the commission of the crime. It is contended that the Petitioner is the sole breadwinner of the family and his arrest would cause undue hardship and prejudice to his dependents. The Petitioner undertakes to abide by any conditions that this Court may impose while granting bail to the Petitioner. 3. The learned counsel for the petitioner further submits that there civil disputes pending in between the petitioner and the de-facto complainant. It is further submitted that the Petitioner has a permanent place of residence and there is no likelihood of his absconding or 3 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 evading the process of law. The Petitioner has cooperated with the investigation thus far and assures continued cooperation in future proceedings, and it is urged to allow the Petition. 4. Per contra, Ms.P.Akhila Naidu, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor strenuously opposed to grant of bail and prosecution further apprehend that the Petitioner, if released, may influence or intimidate witnesses, thereby would obstruct the course of justice. It is also urged that there exists a real and imminent risk of the Petitioner absconding and evading the due process of law, if he is granted pre-arrest bail. Given the gravity of the allegations and the potential threat to the progress of the investigation, it is submitted that the Petitioner does not deserve the discretionary relief of bail and it is urged to dismiss the bail petition. 5. Sri P. Venkata Rama Sarma, learned counsel for respondent No.2, submits that the de-facto complainant suffered grievous injuries at the hands of the petitioner and other accused, as there are specific overt acts attributed to the petitioner and it is urged to dismiss the petition. 6. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor, and the learned counsel for respondent No.2. Perused the record. 4 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 7. As seen from the record, Accused No.2 is the son of Accused No.1. The de-facto complainant suffered grievous injuries. There are two adverse antecedents reported against the petitioner vide Crime No.74 of 2019 for the offence under Section 306 read with Section 511 of ‘the IPC’ and Crime No.107 of 2020. The petitioner has not disclosed the aforesaid information in his present petition as per the Judgment of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Kaushal Singh v. The State of Rajashtan1, wherein, at paragraph Nos.22 and 23, it is held as under: 22. Before parting, we would like to state that, accounting for the criminal antecedents of the accused while considering the bail applications has been the subject matter of concern for Courts across the country. The rules and orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to be specific, Rule 5 of Chapter 1- A(b) Volume-V specifically provide as below: “5. Bail applications. - In every application for bail presented to the High Court the petitioner shall state whether similar application has or has not been made to the Supreme Court, and if made shall state the result thereof. The petitioner/applicant shall also mention whether he/she is/was involved in any other criminal case or not. If yes, particulars and decisions thereof. An application which does not contain this information shall be placed before the bench with the necessary information.” 23. We feel that every High Court in the country should consider incorporating a similar provision in the respective High Court Rules and/or Criminal Side Rules as it would impose an obligation on the accused to make disclosures regarding his/her involvement in any other criminal case(s) previously registered. 1 CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S). OF 2025 (Arising out of SLP (Crl.) No (s). 2254 of 2025) 5 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 8. L.Ws.2 and 3 are eye-witnesses to the incident. The husband of the de-facto complainant also suffered grievous injuries. 9. Indeed, an order was passed in I.A.No.1 of 2022 in W.P.No.1978 of 2022 by the learned Single Judge of this Court, vide order dated 28.01.2022, against some persons including respondent No.2, granting interim orders to protect the public road. A case in C.C.No.621 of 2022 was also filed by the father of the petitioner along with two other persons, wherein, in the penultimate paragraphs, it was mentioned as under: “At this stage, it is brought to the notice of this Court that respondent No.4 has been suspended on account of his failure to appear before this court on 01.07.2022 in response to the Form-I Notice issued against him. Suspension of respondent No.4 is not the issue involved in the Contempt Case. In any case, if respondent No.4 failed to appear before this Court in the Contempt Case, it is between the Court and respondent No.4. It is debatable as to whether he deserves suspension form duties on this count. Respondent No.4 would be at liberty to move an appropriate application to revoke his suspension.” 10. In view of the specific overt acts attributed against the petitioner, this Court is not inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner, as it would amount to giving a shield, or protection or license to the petitioner who had allegedly caused severe injuries to the victim, as per the judgments of the Hon’ble Apex Court in Gurbaksh Singh Sibbia v. 6 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 State of Panjab2 and Sushila Aggarwal v. State of (NCT of Delhi)3. Hence, this Criminal Petition is liable to be dismissed. 11. In the result, the Criminal Petition is dismissed. However, as per the request of the learned counsel for the petitioner, liberty is granted to the petitioner to surrender before the learned Jurisdictional Court concerned within two (02) weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of this order, and move an appropriate application before the learned Jurisdictional Court concerned. The learned Jurisdictional Court concerned shall endeavour to dispose of the said application in accordance with law, on its own merits, after giving due opportunity of hearing to the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor concerned, and shall pass appropriate orders within a reasonable time, preferably within a period of one (01) week. As a sequel, Miscellaneous petitions, if any pending, shall stand closed. _________________________ DR. Y. LAKSHMANA RAO, J Date: 22.01.2026 RSI 2(1980) 2 SCC 565 3(2020) 5 SCC 1 7 Dr. YLR, J Crl.P.No.4813 of 2025 Dated 22.01.2026 126 THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION No.4813 of 2025 Date: 22.01.2026 RSI