The absence of guilty intent concerning culpable homicide was emphasized, leading to the grant of pre-arrest bail and regular bail under specific conditions.

COMMON ORDER:

The Criminal Petition No.7858 of 2025 was filed under Section 482 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for brevity ‘the BNSS ’), seeking grant of pre-arrest bail for the Petitioner/Accused No.6. The Criminal Petition No.7947 of 2025 filed under Sections 480 & 483 of ‘the BNSS ’ seeking for grant of regular bail to the Petitioners/Accused Nos.1 to 5 who have been languishing in the jail. Since the two cases arise out of the one crime, it is felt convenient to dispose of the two Criminal Petitions by this common order.

2. Facts, in brief, of the prosecution are that on 10.06.2025 at about 11:00 a.m., an incident involving wrongful restraint and culpable homicide not amounting to murder occurred at Survey No.95-2, Plot No. 6, situated in Nalla Narsingaiah Colony, Rachanapalli Village, Ananthapuramu Rural Mandal. The alleged offence took place while the complainant, Reddivaari Nagaraju, and his father, the deceased Reddyvari Konaiah, aged 76 years, were engaged in laying measurements on their house site. It is alleged that the accused persons, namely (1) Parnapalli Gangadhar, (2) Pamapalli Rajamma, wife of P.Gangadhar, (3) Parnapalli Lakshmi Prasad, son of P.Gangadhar, (4) Pamapalli Nagasai, son of P.Gangadhar, (5) Ramu, and (6) Subbanna, all residents of Rachanapalli Village, Ananthapuramu Rural Mandal, in furtherance of a common intention, wrongfully restrained the complainant and the deceased. During the said restraint, the accused persons picked up a quarrel with them and, in the course of such altercation, intentionally pushed the deceased with the knowledge that he would fall and sustain grievous injury or death. As a result of such push, the deceased fell to the ground and sustained a fatal injury to the posterior region of his head. He was immediately shifted in an auto-rickshaw to the Government General Hospital, Ananthapuramu, where the attending medical personnel examined him and declared him "brought dead" at 12:20 p.m. on the same day.

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

4. Sri M.V.Subba Reddy, learned Counsel for the Petitioners submits that there was no element of guilty intention of doing away the life of the father of the de-facto complainant, even as seen from the averments of the FIR. It is further submitted that Accused Nos.1 to 5 have been in judicial custody for the past 60 days. There are land disputes in between the Petitioners and the deceased and his relatives. The alleged incident happened in the course of measuring the disputed land by the surveyor and it is urged to enlarge Accused Nos.1 to 5 on bail and grant pre-arrest bail to Accused No.6, who is aged about 84 years.

5. Per contra, Ms. P.Akhila Naidu, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor argued that there are specific overt acts attributed against Accused Nos.1 & 2 who knew pretty well the deceased was aged about 76 years, he was pushed down with force resulting in the death of the father of the de-facto complainant and it is urged to dismiss these Petitions submitting that the investigation is not yet completed and the accusation was well founded against the Petitioners as L.Ws.5 to 7 who are the independent mediators supported the case of the prosecution.

6. As seen from the averments of the report submitted by the de-facto complainant at about 11.00 a.m., on 10.06.2025, when the deceased, de-facto complainant and his relatives were getting surveyed the land, the Petitioners came into the land, picked up quarrel with the de-facto complainant and his men. Accused Nos.1 & 2 pushed down with force the father of the de-facto complain