THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No.11031 of 2025

ORAL ORDER:

This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) for grant of pre- arrest bail to the petitioner, who is arrayed as accused No.4 in Crime No.01 of 2025 of Warangal Narcotics Police Station, TG Anti-

Nacrotics Bureau, Warangal District.

2. The case of the prosecution is that on 30.04.2025, on receipt of the credible information, the Police apprehended the petitioner along with other accused and seized 147.3 kgs. of dry ganja from their possession. Based on the same, present crime was registered.

3. Heard Mr.M.A.K. Mukheed, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mr.Arun Kumar Doddla, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing for respondent-State.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent and falsely implicated in the case and that the Police relied on a coerced confessional statement from a co- accused. He further submitted that the allegations in the FIR do not constitute a prima facie offence against the petitioner and that the confession of the co-accused is inadmissible as evidence. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner by allowing this criminal petition.

5. On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner stating that the petitioner is involved in 8 other criminal cases and the investigation is in progress and if the petitioner is released on bail, at this stage, he may tamper with the evidence and may threaten the witnesses. Hence, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition.

6. Having regard to the rival submissions made and on going through the material placed on record, the only contention of the learned counsel for the petitioner is that the petitioner was falsely implicated in the case solely basing on the confession made by co- accused in whose possession contraband was seized and that petitioner is no way concerned with the offence punishable under the provisions of NDPS Act, as no contraband was seized from his possession, whereas, it is the specific stand of learned Additional Public Prosecutor that petitioner is actively involved with other accused in his illegal activities.

7. At this stage, it is pertinent to observe that the Courts exercise caution while dealing with anticipatory bail petitions in NDPS cases due to the serious nature of these offences. Granting anticipatory bail in regular manner may hamper the investigation, allow the accused to abscond, and undermine public interest in preventing and controlling these offences.

8. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has consistently held that anticipatory bail should not be granted in NDPS cases as a matter of routine, as the same may hamper the investigation and enable the accused to destroy evidence. Further, in the case of Anarul SK v. State of West Bengal¹ the Hon’ble Supreme Court observed that grant of anticipatory bail in cases involving NDPS is a very serious issue.

9. In light of the above discussion, this Court is of the opinion that granting pre-arrest bail at a stage when the investigation is still in progress may impede the investigative process. The petitioner is involved in eight other pending cases, which could potentially prejudice the case of the prosecution. As such, there are no merits in this criminal petition to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner and the same is liable to be dismissed.

1 Petition for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl.)No.12621/2024 dated 19.09.2024

10. Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is dismissed.

Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed.

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K. SUJANA, J Date: 11.09.2025 ss