Puvvada Lakshmana Vs The State of Telangana

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THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD

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TUESDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF AUGUST TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA

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Between:

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lqwada Lakshmana, S/o.Lakshmi Narayana, Aged about E7 years, Occ. l_nvqte^{Emptoyeenesioeniof} flai. No.407, H.No.16-1 1456t4, Sailaja Pride Musharambag, Hyderabad _ 500036

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AND

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...Petitioner{Nccused No. 1

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Ii5,Br',fi n "' Excise Reddy High of ""J^{ff 'f,J Fiitxr'J;"$n} Hyderabad.

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...Respon plainant

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Petition under Section 4gO & 4g3 of BNSS praying that in the circu mstances stated in the Memorandu m of Grounds of Cri Petition, the High Court may be pleased to enla rge the Petitioner/Accused 1 on bail in Crime and Occurrence Report (COR) No.53 of 2O2S on the file P.S. Excise Hayathnagar, Ranga Reddy District This Petition coming on for hearing, upon perusing the MQrnorandum of Grounds of criminar petition and upon hearing the "*ur"nrs of Sri SK Fakruddin Ali, Advocate for the Petitioner and Sri Syed yasar Mamoon, AdditionalPublicProsecutoronbehalfoftheRespondent.

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The Gourt made the following: ORDER

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TIIE HONOI'RABLE^{SMT JT'STICEK. SUJANA}

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CRIMINAL PEf,ITIOII^{No.1(X)4Lof 2ot25}

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ORAL ORDER:

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seeking the court^{to enlarge the petitioner, who is} arrayed as accused^{No.l in c.o.R.No.S3 of 2025 of Excise} police lltation, Hayattrnagar, Ranga Reddy District,^{on bai[,} the pre,sent Criminal^{Petitionis frled.}

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The brief facts of^{the case are that on 04.06.2025,at} approxlfirately 6:48^{PM, information was receivedfrom ENF} TPR Clrt Dtl staff^{regarding the seizureof a white crystalline} substance, suspected^{to be Alprazolam(total 17.91kgs), and a} weighing machine^{from t].e possession ofthe accused} persons. The seized items^{w€re documented and secured} under lhe cover of a Panchanama.

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I{eard sri s.K. Fakruddin^{Ali, learned counsel appearing} on beh.alf of the^{petitioneras well as Sri Syed Yasar Mamoon,} learnerl Additional^{Public Prosecutor appearing for respondent} - State.

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.Learned counsel for^{the petitioner submittedthat the} petitioner was^{arrested on 04.06.2025and had been in}

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j! tj t

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2

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srsr, Crl.P.[o.lOOlL of 20f25

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custody for 62 days, and that the seized contraband, 119,400 Alprazolam tablets totaling 59.7 grams, had been produced before the Magistrate. He emphasiz,ed. that this quanitity was interinediate and the strict provisions of Section 37 did not apply. He further submitted that no contrabapd was recovered from tJ:e petitioner personally, and the seizure wai from premises not directly linked to him. The petitioner was a first-time offender with no criminal record, had previously held a valid Drug License, and had conducted his business laurfrilly through licensed agencies. There was no evidence of illegal sale or criminal intent. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant bail to the petitioner by allowing this criminal petition.

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On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the submissions made by the learned counse[ for the petitioner stating that the petitioner is a drug peddler. He further submitted that the investigation is in progresp and if the petitioner is released on bail, at this stage, he may tamper with the evidence and may threaten the witnesses. Hgnce, he prayed the Court to dismiss the criminal petition.

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? t

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3

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sKs,J Crl.P.I{o. 1fi)4 I of 2o126

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'l'his Court, considering submissions made by both the learnec[ counsel and reviewing the rnaterial^availableon record, it is noted that the contention^{of the petitionerthat the} case is false, frctitious, and fabricated,^{the case was registered} without following the due procedure.^{However,the Additional} Public Prosecutor opposes bail citing^{commercial quantity} weighing l7.gl kg of Alprazolam. At this stage, it^{is pertinent} to note Section 37 ofthe NDPS Act, which^{reads as under:}

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"37. Offences to^{be cognizable and non-bailable.} -- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in^the Code of Criminal Procedure, L973⁽² of^19741,--(al every offence punistrable under this Act shall^be cognizable;

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(b) no per:son accused of an offence punishable for l[offences under section 19 or section24 or section 27A and also for offences involving^commercial quantity] shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless--

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\

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(i) the Public Pr-osecutor has tleen given an opportunity to oppose the application for^such release, and

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, \

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(ii) where tl:e Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the court is satisfred that there^are reasonable grounds for believing that he is^not Suitty^{of such offence and that he is not likelyto} commit any offence while on bail.

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+.

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sr(sf, Crl.P.IIo. lOQ*|. of 2025

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(2) The limitations on granting of bail specilied in clause {b) of sub-section (1) are in addition to the limitations under the Code of Criminal Procedure, L973 (2 of 19741or any other law for the time being in fonce on granting of bail."

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In view thereof, Section 37 of the NDpS Act mandates that offences involving commercial quantities be non-bailable, requiring reasonable grounds to believe the accused is not guilty and unlikely to commit further offences while on bail. Grugq the serious allegations against the petitioner, this Court

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: is not satisfied that conditions for granting bail under Section 37 are met. Therefore, the criminal petition lacks merit and the same is liable to be dismissed.

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