1. 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 No.3 on bail in Crime No.74 of 2024 of Padmanabham Police Station, Visakhapatnam Commissionerate, registered against the Petitioner/Accused No.3 herein for the offences punishable under Sections 20(b)(ii)(C) read with 8(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (for brevity ‘the NDPS Act’).

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record.

3. As seen from the record, the petitioner is at the impressionable age of 21 years. The allegation against the petitioner is that he, along with other accused, indulged in dealing with 40.00 Kgs of Ganja. It is a commercial quantity. After thorough investigation, a charge sheet was filed showing the accused as absconding. Later, the Court concerned issued an NBW against the petitioner. The petitioner was arrested on 23.08.2025. He has been in judicial custody for the past 94 days. The charge sheet was numbered as N.S.C.No.150 of 2024. Accused No.1 was already enlarged on bail in this case. Except the co-accused’s confession, there was no material available against the petitioner in the instant case. The learned Assistant Public Prosecutor submits that the petitioner was involved in an offence under ‘the NDPS Act’, in connection with Crime No.126/2022.

4. Be that as it may, the Petitioner/Accused No.3 is presumed to be innocent until the guilt is proved. The Hon’ble Apex Court in Prabhakar Tewari v. State of Uttar Pradesh ((2020) 11 SCC 648) , at para No.7, observed that mere pendency of criminal antecedents itself is not a ground to deny the request for grant of bail.

5. The petitioner is a permanent resident of Ganga Gudi, Madagada Post, Araku Valley, Alluri Sitharama Raju District. He has got fixed abode. If he is enlarged on bail with certain stringent conditions, he may not evade the process of law. No application was filed seeking custodial interrogation. No application was filed seeking extension of judicial remand further. As the investigation was completed and the charge sheet has been filed, there is no scope for tampering with the evidence or threatening the witnesses.

6. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature and gravity of allegations levelled against the Petitioner/Accused No.3, this Court is inclined to enlarge the Petitioner/Accused No.3 on bail.

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

                  i. The Petitioner/Accused No.3 shall be enlarged on bail subject to him executing bond for a sum of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only), with two sureties for the like sum to the satisfaction of the learned I Additional District and Sessions Judge-Special Judge for Trial of Offenses under NDPS Act, Visakhapatnam.

                  ii. The Petitioner/Accused No.3 shall appear before the learned Trial Court on each and every adjournment without fail.

                  iii. The Petitioner/Accused No.3 shall not leave the limits of the State of Andhra Pradesh without prior permission from the learned Trial Court.

                  iv. The Petitioner/Accused No.3 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future.

                  v. The Petitioner/Accused No.3 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.