Murukutti Nookaraju v. The State of Andhra Pradesh, through Station House Officer Nakkapalli

P.S, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAndhra Pradesh, Nelapadu, Amaravathi, Guntur District. ...Respondent/Complainant Petition under 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 release the petitioner/A6 on Bail in connection with Crime No.281/2022 of Nakkapalli PS, Anakapalli District u/s. 20 (b) (ii) (c) R/w. 8 (c) of NDPS Act - 1985 in Crime No.281/2022 dt 09.ll.2022; The petition coming on for, hearing, upon perusing the petition and memorandum of grounds of criminal petition and upon hearing the arguments of Sri K.Pridhvi Raju, Advocate for the Petl-tioner and Public Prosecutor for the Respondent, the Court made the following ORDER; APHCO10277192025 EELET lN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI (SpecI-a[ Orig[-na[ Jurisdict[-on) [3369] MONDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE I MALLIKARJUNA RAO CRIMINAL PETITION NO: 5708/2025 Between : Murukutti NookaraJ®u ...PETITIONER/ACCUSED The State Of Andhra Pradesh AND ...RESPONDENT/COMPLAINANT Counsel for the Petitioner/accused:

#1. K PRIDHVI RAJU Counsel for the Respondent/complainan{

1.PUBLIC PROSECUTOR The Court made the following: ORDER: This Criminal Petition, u/sec.480 & 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik suraksha sanhita, 2023, has been filed by the petitioner/A6, seeking bail, in Crime No.281/2022 of Nakkapalli Police Station, Visakhapatnam District.

#2. A case has been registered against the petitioner and others for the offences punishable u/sees.20(b)(ii)(B), 25 r/w 8(c) of the NDPS Act.

#3. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor representing the respondenvstate.

#4. Case of the prosecution, in brief, is that, on o9.ll.2022 at about

4.30pm, on receipt of credible information, regarding illegal possession and transportatI-On Of ganja, the S.I of Poll-ce, along with staff and mediators 2 rushed to vempadu toll plaza and conducted vehI'Cle CheCkl'ng. On seeing police, the inmates I'n a swI'f{ desire car bearing registration no.AP 31 CT 9918, stopped the same a{ some dl-stance and three persons got down from the car and trl'ed to escape. Then police apprehended those three persons and a{ the same time one Mahl-ndra Bolero jeep bearing reg['s{ra{jon no.AP 39 UB 4768 coming from visakhapa{nam towards Tuni stopped at some distance and two persons got down from it and {rjed {o ran away. Then police apprehended them. on questioning, they disclose the,|r I'dentity particulars as that of A1 {o A5 and police found 180 kgs of ganja in their possession and got them into custody. Al to A5 confessed about the involvement ofA6 in the commissI-On Of the offence. On 30,4.2025, A6 was arrested on execution of pT warrant.

#5. Perused the record.

#6. Learned counsel for the petj{ioner contends that a crime came to be registered in the year 2022 and basing on the confession statement of other accused, who were found to be l'n possession of 180 Kgs of Ganja, this petitioner was arrested on 30.4.2025 i.e. after three years and since then he has been in judicllal Custody, as such, prayed to allow the criminal petition. 7I Learned Assistant public Prosecutor has not disputed the above fact and opposed to grant bail to the petit,'oner.

#8. After careful observation of the mater].al on record and submissions made on behalf of both sides, jt shows {ha{ the petitioner was arrested and 3 remanded to judicial custody on 3O.4.2025 basing on the confessionJ statement of other accused:I Evidently no contraband has been seized from the possession of the petitioner. Since the petitioner has been in remand from 30.4.2025, this Court found that most of the investigation pertaining to the role played by the Petitioner in the commission Of the Offence WOuld be completed. It is submitted that the petitioner iS Permanent resident Of Anakapalle District as such there is nO possibility Of his fleeing away from justice and most of the witnesses are official witnesses and the release of the petitioner would not cause tampering of evidence and hampering of investigation. Considering the entire material on record, this Court is inclined to grant bail tO the Petitioner With some conditions.

#9. ln the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following conditions: (i) The petitioner/A6 herein shall be released on his executing a personal bond for Rs.25,000/- (Rupees twenty five thousand only) with two sureties for a like sum to the satisfaction of the learned I Additional District and Sessions Judge, Visakhapatnam; (ii) On release, the petitioner shall appear before the Station House Officer concerned once in a fortnight between 10.00 a.m. and 12.00 noon, for a period of two (02) months. (iii) The petitioner sha" not {amper with the evidence and hamper the investigation and shall cooperate for investigation. A|C SD/- K.SRINIVA.S,'3`. i-'tAJGJ ASSjSTAi`.I REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// For A|( SECTION O~FFiCEP. FT I i//`\ '-.Jab To,

#1. The I Additional District & Sessions Judge-Gum-Special Judge for Trial of offences under NDPS Act-1985 Visakhapatnam.

#2. The Superintendent, Central Prison, Visakhapatnam.

#3. The Station House Officer, Nakkapalli Police Station, Visakhapatnam District

#4. One CC to Sri. K.Pridhvi Raju, Advocate [OPUC]

#5. Two CCs to Public Prosecutor, High Court ofAP [OUT] 6. One spare copy HIGH COURT TMR,J DATED:16/06/2025