(Prayer: 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 direct the Respondent to enlarge the Petitioner on bail in the event of his arrest in Crime No.12/2026 of Dargamitta Police Station, Nellore District and pass

IA NO: 1 OF 2026

Petition under Section 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 may be pleased may be pleased to permit the petitioner to bring the defacto Complainant ie., Sri K.Venkateswarlu, Divisional Cooperative Officer Cooperative Society Office, Backside of Pinakini Guest House, Darga Compound, Dargamitta, Nellore Town, Nellore District. as 2nd Respondent in the anticipatory bail petition and as well as in I.A. No. 1 of 2026 and to pass)

1. 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. 12 of 2026 of Dargamitta Police Station, Nellore District, registered for the alleged offence punishable under Section 409 of IPC read with 79(1)(f) APCSA, 1964.

2. Sri Kallemu Vijaya Raju, the learned counsel for the Petitioner, submits that she is an innocent of the alleged offence and she has been falsely implicated by the police. It is further submitted that the Petitioner is the sole earning member of the family and, therefore, her incarceration would cause undue hardship to his dependents. The Petitioner undertakes to strictly adhere to any conditions that may be imposed by this Court. In light of the foregoing submissions, the learned counsel prays that the present petition be allowed in the interest of justice.

3. Per contra, Mr.K. Sandeep, the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor vehemently opposed the grant of bail to the Petitioners, submitting that the investigation is not completed. It is contended that if the Petitioner is released on bail at this stage, there is a strong likelihood that she 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.

4. Notice on Respondent No.2 served, but no representation on her behalf. Hence, Sri Pathi Siva Prasad, learned counsel is appointed as Legal Aid Counsel for the Respondent No.2.

5. Heard the learned Counsel for the Petitioners; learned Assistant Public Prosecutor and learned Legal Aid Counsel for the Respondent No.2.

6. Perused the record.

7. Learned co-ordinate bench of this Court on 23.03.2026 dismissed the pre-arrest bail application filed by the Petitioner, but granted relief that the Investigating Officer should not take any coercive steps against the Petitioner for a period of two (02) weeks and granted liberty to approach the learned Sessions Judge. Accordingly, the Petitioner had filed an application for grant of pre-arrest bail before learned VI Additional District and Sessions Judge, Nellore. However, learned Sessions Judge, vide order, dated 26.05.2026 in Crl.M.P.No.505 of 2026 dismissed the pre-arrest bail application.

8. The defacto complainant/ Divisional Co-operative Officer, Nellore has submitted a complaint to the Station House Officer, IV Town Police Station, Darga Mitta, Nellore alleging that one Smt. P.T.Selvi, the then Executive Officer of the District Scheduled Castes Service Co-operative Society Limited had drawn and paid an amount of Rs. 11,53,625/- towards car hire charges willfully without following G.O.Ms.No.87, Finance Department, dated 01.06.2017. As the violation of Corporation norms and guidelines, an enquiry was initiated under Section 51 of A.P.Co-operative Societies Act, 1964 against the Petitioner for dereliction of duties by the Authorities concerned.

9. Even if the allegation against the Petitioner and other Accused are admitted to be true just for the sake of argument and that if at all the Petitioner had committed any irregularities in discharging her duties, the appropriate higher officials having power would have taken appropriate disciplinary action taken against the Petitioner.

10. Considering the facts and circumstances, the gravity and nature of the allegations leveled against the Petitioner, this Court is inclined to grant pre-arrest bail to the Petitioner/ Accused.

11. In the result, the Criminal Petition is allowed with the following conditions:

               i. In the event of arrest of the Petitioner/Accused No.2 she shall be enlarged on bail subject to her executing a personal bond for a sum of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand only), with two sureties for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the arresting police officials;

               ii. The Petitioner/Accused No.2 shall make herself available for investigation as and when required;

               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 her passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If she claims that she does not have passport, she shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating Officer.