1. 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.1 on bail in Crime No.145 of 2025 of Iragavaram Police Station, West Godavari District, registered against the Petitioner/Accused No.1 herein for the offences punishable under Sections 69, 85, 351(2) read with 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNS’).

2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner, learned legal aid counsel for the 2nd respondent and the learned Assistant Public Prosecutor. Perused the record.

3. As seen from the record, the de-facto complainant is the wife of the elder brother of the petitioner. The elder brother of the petitioner is no more. After his death, a proposal was made by the parents of the petitioner to the de-facto complainant that her marriage would be performed with the petitioner, since she had lost her husband at an early age, and that they would live together happily.

4. Subsequently, the petitioner and the de-facto complainant, on several occasions, had sexual intercourse and lived together as husband and wife. Thereafter, it is alleged that the petitioner developed aversion towards the de- facto complainant and proposed to marry another woman. It is further alleged that the de-facto complainant was living in an adulterous relationship with others.

5. So far, eight witnesses have been examined. The petitioner is working as a Bill Collector in Kantheru Panchayat Office on a contract basis. He has a fixed place of abode and is a permanent resident of Kattaavapadu Village, Iragavaram Mandal, West Godavari District. The petitioner was arrested on 24.10.2025 and has been in judicial custody for the past 63 days. Substantial portion of the investigation has been completed.

6. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, gravity and nature of the allegations levelled against the petitioner, this Court is inclined to enlarge the petitioner on bail with the following stringent conditions:

                  i. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall be enlarged on bail subject to he executing a bond for a sum of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees Ten Thousand Only), with two sureties each for the like sum each to the satisfaction of the learned I Additional Civil Judge (Junior Division) Cum Additional Judicial Magistrate of First Class, Tanuku.

                  ii. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall appear before the Station House Officer, Iragavaram Police Station, West Godavari District, on every Saturday in between 10:00 am and 05:00 pm, till cognizance is taken by the learned the Trial Court.

                  iii. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall not leave the limits of the State of Andhra Pradesh without prior permission from the Station House Officer concerned.

                  iv. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall not commit or indulge in commission of any offence in future.

                  v. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 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.

                  vi. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 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 or to any police officer.

                  vii. The Petitioner/Accused No.1 shall surrender his passport, if any, to the investigating officer. If he claims that he does not have a passport, he shall submit an affidavit to that effect to the Investigating Officer.

7. Accordingly, the Criminal Petition is allowed.