Tl IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMAR/| MONDAY ,THE SIXTH DAY OF JULY ^ TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY SIX : PRESENT: THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5170 OF 2026 // M‘% Between: 1. Gade Renuka, D/o Raminaidu, Aged 29 years,Occ. Software at Vinuque Solution,Bangalore, R/o Maratahalli Area, Near Broke Field Mall,Saibaba Street, Zolo Cinmman Apartment, Room no. Peta Sarada 405, Bangalore City, Village,Vizianagaram District R/o. H.No.194, Street No.300 Nagar, Narsipatnam State of Karnataka. N/o Modugula 2. Ponnaganti Mani Alias Manikumari, W/o Chakravarthy, Aged years,R/o Pedavalasa Village, GK Veedhi Mandal,ASR District. Petitioners/Accused Nos. 1 & 8 38 AND The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor,High Court of Andhra Pradeshat Amaravati. Respondent/Complainant Petition under Sections 437 & 439 of Cr.P.C, (New Sections 480 & 483 of BNSS, 2023) praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the Criminal Petition, the High Court may be pleased to release the Petitioners/Accused No. 1 & 8 in Crime No. 158 of 2025, on the file of the Nathavaram Police Station ^ COUNSEL FOR THE PETITIONERS : SRI. ADAPA SUDHAKAR RAO COUNSEL FOR THE RESPONDENT : PUBLIC PROSECUTOR ^ Date of reserved for orders ; m Date of pronouncement M Date of uploading ;06.07.2026 APHC010322642026 IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (Special Original Jurisdiction) [3521] MONDAY, THE 6*^ DAY OF JULY 2026 PRESENT THE HONOURABLE DR JUSTICE Y. LAKSHMANA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5170/2026 Between: 1.GADE RENUKA, D/0 RAMINAIDU, AGED 29 YEARS,OCC. SOFTWARE AT VINUQUE SOLUTION,BANGALORE, R/0 MARATAHALLI AREA, NEAR BROKE FIELD MALL,SAIBABA STREET, ZOLO CINMMAN APARTMENT, ROOM NO. 405,BANGALORE CITY, STATE OF KARNATAKA.N/0 MODUGULA PETA VILLAGE,VIZIANAGARAM DISTR 2.PONNAGANTI MANI ALIAS MANIKUMARI, W/0 CHAKRAVARTHY, AGED 38 YEARS,R/0 PEDAVALASA VILLAGE, GK VEEDHI MANDAL,ASR DISTRICT. ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED{S) AND 1.THE STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court of Andhra Pradesh at Amaravati. ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Petition under Section 437/438/439/482 of Cr.P.C and 528 of BNSS praying that in the circumstances stated in the Memorandum of Grounds of Criminal Petition, the High Court pleased to release the Petitioners/Accused No. 1 & 8 in Crime No. 158 of 2025, on the file of the Nathavaram Police Station and pass fr- Counsel for the Petitioner/accused(S): 1.ADAPA SUDHAKAR RAO Counsel for the Respondent/complainant: 1. PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: 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 Nos.1 and 8 on bail in Crime No. 158 of 2025 of Nathavaram Police Station, Anakapalli District, registered against the Petitioner/Accused Nos.1 and 8 herein for the offences punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(C), 25 read with 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity ‘the NDPS Act’). Sri Adapa Sudhakar Rao, the learned counsel for the petitioners, submits that the petitioners are innocent of the alleged offence and they have been falsely implicated by the police. It is further submitted that the petitioners are the sole earning members of the family and, therefore, their incarceration would cause undue hardship to his dependents. The petitioners undertake to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by Ihis Court. In light of the foregoing submissions, the learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of justice. It is further submitted by the learned counsel for the petitioners that this Court, vide order dated 29.06.2026 in 2. V, \ CrI.P. No.2379 of 2026, enlarged Accused No.3 on bail after completion of the statutory period of 180 days. Per contra, Mr. K. Sandeep, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor 3. vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the petitioners, submitting that the investigation is still underway and several material witnesses remain to be examined. It is contended that if the petitioners are released on bail at this stage, there is a strong likelihood that they may abscond, thereby hampering the ongoing investigation and evading the process of law. In view of the foregoing submissions, it is urged that the petition be dismissed. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Assistant 4. Public Prosecutor. Perused the record. 5. As seen from the record, the petitioners are arrayed as Accused Nos.1 and 8. The role of the petitioners has come to light based on the confession of Accused No.1. The seized contraband was not recovered from the possession of the petitioners. The seized contraband weighs 74 kgs., which is a commercial quantity. The petitioners were arrested on 26.12.2025. They have been in judicial custody for the past 192 days. There are no similar adverse antecedents reported against the petitioners. So far, eight witnesses have been examined, all of whom are official witnesses. A substantial portion of the investigation with regard to the role played by the petitioners has already been completed. Therefore, the scope for the petitioners threatening the official witnesses, tampering with the evidence, or hampering the investigation may not arise. Petitioner No.1 is a permanent resident of Santhakaviti Mandal Vizianagaram District, and Petitioner No.2 is a permanent resident of G.K. Veedhi Mandal, Alluri Sitarama Raju District, and they have fixed abode. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that there are no 6. adverse antecedents against the petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 8 and 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 upto one year by indicating the progress of investigation and the specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. Section 36A(4) of ‘the NDPS Act’ states that if the investigation is not 7. completed within 180 days, the petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 8 has an indefeasible right to bail, unless the Special Court extends the period up to one year on the report of the Public Prosecutor, indicating the progress of the investigation and specific reasons for the detention of the accused beyond the initial period. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and 8. gravity of the allegations levelled against the petitioners/Accu sed Nos.1 and 8, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioners/Accused Nos.1 and 8 on bail subject to some stringent conditions. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following stringent 9. conditions: • .4 i. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 shall be enlarged on bail subject to his executing a bond for a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakh only) with two sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Narsipatnam. ii. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned, on every Saturday in between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm, till filing of the charge sheet, iii. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 shall not leave the limits of the State of Andhra Pradesh without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned. / / / iv. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future. V. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 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. The Petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 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. VI. vii. The petitioner/ Accused Nos.1 and 8 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If he claims that he does not have passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating Officer. SD/- K. KASiRAO ACHARI assistant registrar SECTION OFFICER //TRUE COPY// r To, 1. The Additional Judicial First Class Magistrate, Narsipatnam 2. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Visakhapatnam 3. The Station House officer, Nathavaram Police Station, Anakapalli District 4. One CC to SRI. ADAPA SUDHAKAR RAO Advocate [OPUC] 5. Two CCs to PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, High Court of A.P[OUT] 6. One spare copy HIGH COURT DR.YLR,J DATED:06/07/2026 BAIL ORDER CRLP.No.5170 of 2026 ALLOWED